Lean Market-Based Sanitation Partnership Blog
A partnership in scaling, and a commitment to learning in public. In this series, CARE, iDE, and IDinsight share the lessons, challenges, and emerging insights from our effort to design market-based sanitation programs for scale from the start and build solutions that can achieve lasting impact through local systems.
From buy-in to ownership: Market-based sanitation in Zambia
Development efforts often treat government buy-in as the finish line. In Zambia, CARE, iDE, and IDinsight are testing something harder: whether district government, the water utility, and local businesses can own, finance, and scale a market-based sanitation model themselves — long after external support ends.
Read MoreA toilet means more than you think: Rebuilding durable sanitation in Zambia
In Chisekesi, Zambia, families rebuild collapsing latrines year after year, not because they don't value sanitation, but because no durable option meets their needs. iDE's human-centered design work reveals what it takes to build a toilet market rooted in dignity, durability and real household rhythms.
Read MoreWhere to test a model built for scaling: Lessons from our market-based sanitation program in Zambia
CARE, iDE, and IDinsight partnered to identify the most suitable location to pilot a scalable market-based sanitation model in sub-Saharan Africa. A data-driven site selection process led to Zambia’s Southern Province, highlighting the importance of using evidence, testing models in representative contexts, and validating assumptions through on-the-ground research to improve prospects for scale.
Read MoreRadical collaboration: Why we’re building a sanitation partnership the hard way
In the development sector, true partnership is rare. Learn how CARE, iDE, and IDinsight are overcoming "Not-Invented-Here Syndrome" through a lean, three-way experiment in Zambia to test how market-based sanitation (MBS) can scale sustainably under real-world conditions.
Read MoreHelp CARE respond to emergencies.
CARE is there delivering lifesaving aid and defending the lives of families in crisis.
Designing for scale: Rethinking what and how we build
How CARE's inquiry into scale has reshaped our approach to impact. In this first post of a new series, we examine why successful pilots often fail to expand globally and explore what it truly takes to challenge deeply held assumptions and design for lasting, system-level scale.
Read More-
1 of 1
Journalists are free to use material from CARE.org without permission. Please tag us on social media and be sure to include proper credit for photos and videos.
For press inquiries, view our Press Resources page or contact us at usa.media@care.org.