Introduction

Across rapidly growing African cities, the conversation around sanitation is often reduced to toilets and water supply. Yet one of the most critical and overlooked components of the sanitation chain is Fecal Sludge Management (FSM)—how we safely remove, transport, treat, and dispose of human waste from onsite sanitation systems like pit latrines and septic tanks.

The Missing Middle in Urban Sanitation

FSM serves as the bridge between what happens inside the toilet and what ends up at the treatment site. In many urban and peri-urban areas, lack of coordinated FSM systems leads to:

• Unsafe manual emptying
• Overflowing latrines
• Contaminated water sources
• Public health crises (especially during floods)

Despite its importance, FSM has often been sidelined in national and municipal policies.

The Policy Imperative

Governments need to integrate FSM into their urban development masterplans by:

• Establishing regulations that govern safe emptying and disposal
• Supporting public-private partnerships for FSM services
• Investing in decentralized sludge treatment facilities
• Developing pricing models that ensure affordability for the urban poor