Biogas from Fecal Sludge at Kibera Communities at Nairobi (Umande Trust, Kenya)

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

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Abstract: Kenya with urbanization rate of 5% per annum has more than 1,800 low-income informal settlements with a total estimated population of 12.5 million. The informal settlements of Nairobi cover about 5% of the total residential land area but they are inhabited by over 50% of the city?s total population. The characteristics of an informal settlement (slum) are: lack of basic water at affordable prices, sanitation by public or private toilets and other infrastructural services; unplanned, underserved, high density, poor neighbourhood without legal recognition or rights. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi and the largest urban slum in Africa. The 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census reports Kibera?s population as 170,070. About 85% of households buy water from privately or communally-owned kiosks at prices four to five times higher per litre than tariffs charged by the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Services Company. TOSHA 1 is a bio-centre within the informal settlements of Kibera managed by TOSHA1, a CBO that is supported by Umande Trust in Kenya. The bio-centres are bio-sanitation units that provide secure and adequate access to sanitation and income generation by converting human waste into biogas and liquid fertilizer. Once the bio-centre is constructed, Umande Trust provides technical support and trains the CBOs to run and operate the bio-centre.