Tens of thousands of Kenyans use eco-friendly toilets

A Kenyan company supported by Finland produces circular economy products from toilet waste and other organic waste.

Sanergy’s Fresh Life toilets are becoming more common in parts of Nairobi. Photo: Sanergy.

In the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum in Kenya, tens of thousands of people use eco-friendly dry toilets built by the circular economy company Sanergy for a small fee. Sanergy produces organic fertilisers, energy pellets and animal feed from the waste generated in these toilets, as well as other organic waste collected from sources such as restaurants, vegetable and fruit packaging facilities, and markets.  The fertilisers are used to improve soil fertility and agricultural productivity, promoting food security. 

Sanergy also offers training to farmers to improve their farming methods. By the spring of 2024, more than 8,000 farmers had adopted new cultivation methods that help them adapt to climate change, for example. Sanergy has received funding from the Finnish development financier Finnfund to develop its operations.

Background

According to the World Bank, 56 per cent of the world’s population lived in cities in 2022. The bank predicts that the urban population will more than double from the current 4.4 billion by 2050. Rapid urbanisation poses challenges, including for sanitation. Currently, around 3.5 billion people live without safe toilets and adequate hygiene. 

According to Sanergy, diseases related to a lack of safe sanitation and hygiene result in the deaths of more than 17,000 children in Kenya annually. The World Bank reports that more than 66 per cent of the toilet waste in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, was left untreated in 2018.

Impact of Finland's development cooperation

Finnfund began to support Sanergy in 2017, providing EUR 1.25 million in funding for the company’s operations. The support from Finnfund and other investors has enabled the expansion of Sanergy’s activities in the Nairobi area and elsewhere in Kenya.

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