DMT MOBILE TOILETS

Organizational Vision
Citizen Base Strategy
How it's Working
Lessons Learned

Nneka, mother of two, is shopping at the vegetable market when she feels the call of nature and notices a recently installed public toilet on the edge of the market. For N60 (US$.02) Nneka pays the street youth in charge of his rented toilet for its use-both ensuring the cleanliness of the market proper waste disposal as well as supporting the economy of local working youth. One portable toilet at a time, portable toilet provider Dignified Mobile Toilets (DMT) is making Nigeria safer, cleaner, and more economically robust.

Organizational Vision

Concerned about the health and environmental issues created by the absence of public toilets in most Nigerian cities, Ashoka Fellow Isaac Durojaiye launched the country's first portable toilet initiative. In Nigeria, most public places have no toilet facilities, worsening the already heavily polluted waters, as the improper disposal of human waste filters directly into the waterways, rivers, and seas. As many Nigerians rely directly on unfiltered water for cooking, drinking, and washing, the waterways only add to the spread of infectious diseases such as dysentery, and cholera. Contaminated drinking water and unsanitary means of waste disposal are closely associated with diarrhoeal diseases - the second biggest cause of childhood death in Nigeria.

DMT locally manufactures toilets and then leases them to community members who in turn charge a small fee for their use. As a key element to engaging otherwise isolated sector of the community, DMT employs jobless youth to maintain the toilets. The youth then earn a percentage of the toilet's revenue in exchange for its maintenance. By providing toilets, DMT promotes a healthier environment by simultaneously educating the community on the importance of proper waste disposal as well as providing a viable alternative to streetside waste practices. DMT's system results in a healthier, more dignified environment throughout Nigeria, and stimulates the economy by creating hundreds of jobs. DMT provides a necessary public service by fulfilling a compelling community need. DMT was recently profiled in the New York Times and by the BBC Network, and in 2005 Durojaiye was selected as the Schwab Foundation's Social Entrepreneur of the Year in Nigeria.

Citizen Base Strategy

Put the boys to work

DMT made a bold decision to hire idle street youth, popularly known as Area Boys, to manage its public toilets, keeping the toilets clean and functional. DMT supplements the workload by emptying the toilets twice a week. These young men and women, an otherwise underutilized segment of the population but oftentimes eager and willing workers, lease individual toilets and earn income by charging a small fee for toilet use, paying back a percentage to DMT. This partnership system ensures that the young people have a sense of ownership of the toilets and a stake in keeping them clean and functional. A typical day's proceeds amount to roughly US$15, a wage well above Nigeria's average income. The partnership ensures that the street youth not only earn decent salaries, but also gain meaningful work experience and add value to society.

Target high-volume needs for high profits

DMT covers 93% of organizational costs by income from events and sales of their goods and services. To sustain the initiative and increase the availability of toilets in public places, DMT both rents and sells its toilets outright to churches and oil, construction, and other companies at premium prices. With funds realized from these transactions, the organization is able to build and place more basic toilets in heavily used public spaces. DMT receives income for providing services for major events, such as The 8th All African Games and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja. DMT is also skilled at charging fees proportional to its clients, allowing the organization to creatively cover costs and fulfill their mission of environmental and social advancement.

DMT has also established several strategic partnerships allowing them to become increasingly sustainable. For example, the organization works directly with manufacturers of toilet oriented products. Companies are charged to place advertisements on DMT toilets, providing an additional source of revenue enabling the organization to cover a large percentage manufacturing costs.

Adapt imports for local production

Local production both empowers the community and reduces organizational costs. Originally, DMT manufactured its own wagon toilets, [wood-based, outhouse-like structures which proved difficult to transport and maintain]. In 1999, DMT imported 30 portable plastic toilets from the UK, toilets that were both lighter and easier to clean. To fulfill what they described as a "burning desire" to produce toilets locally, the company then acquired the necessary knowledge and technology to begin manufacturing high-quality plastic toilets themselves in 2002. This eliminated the cost both of purchasing and shipment; created local jobs, further fueling the economy; and eliminated their dependence on an outside source for resources, thereby substantially increasing their sustainability.

How it's Working

• Since 2003, DMT has manufactured 1,500 toilets.
• At the 8th All African Games, DMT provided and managed over 300 mobile toilets.
• The Nigerian government recently donated 2,000 free toilets to DMT.
• DMT plans to expand to 13 other cities in Nigeria.
• DMT is working to devise creative avenues for the future, including recycling waste to generate bio-gas, electricity and fertilizer for farmers.
• DMT has contributed tremendously to a cleaner environment and improved sanitation in major cities in Nigeria.

Lessons Learned

• Encourage ownership. Part of the reason DMT's model works so well is that each toilet is, in effect, 'owned' by a community member - a young person who is motivated to maintain and care for the product in order to continue earning their livelihood.
• Hire locally. To ensure a steady supply of mobile toilets, Durojaiye established a local factory to manufacture the toilets and after receiving training, hired all local employees. This increased employment, decreased costs, and made the organization more independent.
• Be open to feedback. After women from the local community remarked to DMT that the majority of those leasing the toilets were men, and that women were being left out of the cycle of prosperity, DMT began working in some states, through the Ministry of Women affairs, to help alleviate poverty among women by giving them toilets to maintain in strategic locations. The organization also founded DETOWES (Descent Toilets for Schools and Women Empowerment Scheme), a social service arm that empowers women and provides free toilets for schools in order to promote better health and hygiene.

"Sustainability through self-sufficiency is the only guarantee for future survival." - Isaac Durojaiye, Founder, DMT Mobile Toilets