The Influence of social factors on the promotion of Safe Fecal Management in flood-prone areas: A case of Nyando Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 target 2 aims to provide universal access to sanitation by the year 2030. The study aimed to investigate the influence of social factors on the promotion of safe fecal management in Nyando Sub-County. The area was selected due to prevalent flooding which led to the collapse of pit latrines stemming open defecation and reversal in sanitation access. The study employed a convergent methods approach that incorporated both quantitative and qualitative techniques. A sample size of 177 households was chosen as a representative of the 38,460 total households in the study area. Structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were used for data collection. SPSS version 26 was used to analyze quantitative data and the relationship between the variables was examined using Pearson’s Product Moment correlation at a 5% significance level. Similarly, MAXQDA software was used to group coded data from qualitative methods into themes. From the results, household wealth and gender roles had the strongest influence on the regressor variable with correlation coefficients of (r =.722**; P ≤.022) and (r =.687**; P ≤.049) respectively. Additionally, the study revealed that 18.4%, (n=30) of the respondents did not have toilets and 55.2%, (n=90) of the toilets were unimproved. In conclusion, the choice of affordable sanitation solutions incorporating the aspects of gender may increase sanitation access during floods. Future studies should therefore focus on other factors affecting the promotion of safe fecal management in Nyando Sub-County and suitable sanitation solutions for floodable environments.

Keywords:    Open defecation, Sanitation access, Safe fecal management, Socio-economic gaps, Sanitation disparities