RESIDENTS of Gwanda urban still practise open defecation, according to a latest Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) 2023 exposing poor investment on sanitation services.
“Attention should be given to Matabeleland South province (10%) which had the highest proportion of households practising open defecation. Mazowe-Mvurwi domain (23,8%), had the highest proportion of households which practised open defecation,” the report read.
The ZimVAC report also noted with concern poor refuse and waste management, with at least 29,7% of households resorting to dumping uncollected refuse at undesignated points.
“Sanitation is one of the major indicators used to measure the attainment of an upper-middle-income economy status which the country is aspiring towards.”
The report urged government to urgently address the high cases of open defecation as the practice will derail the attainment of upper-middle-income status by 2030.
Open defecation is the disposal of human waste in fields, forests, bushes, open bodies of water or other open spaces.
“Hence, there is need for major investment in sanitation to ensure that the country does not lag behind on attaining the desired status. Local authorities need to ensure that no people settle on urban dwellings which have no approved sanitation facilities,” the report said.
“The involvement of the private sector through public-private partnerships can also be pursued to manage waste.
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“There is also need for local authorities, in the interest of creating smart cities, to create programmes that educate residents on waste separation at source and encourage composting of organic refuse so that only a minimum amount needs to be collected,” the report read.
Harare topped the list of cities where refuse collection and waste management was flagged as poor.
“About 34,2% of households reported that refuse was never collected in the four weeks preceding the survey. Mashonaland East (67%) and Harare (56,6%) had the highest proportions of households which reported that refuse was never collected in the four weeks before the survey,” ZimVAC added.
“When refuse is not collected by local authorities, residents often found ways of disposing of it both approved and unapproved. About 30,6% of households buried their uncollected refuse and 29,7% threw it away in undesignated areas.”
ZimVAC is a consortium of government, development partners, United Nations, non-governmental organisations, technical agencies and the academia which was established in 2002, and is led and regulated by the government.
Its latest survey focused on urban households residing in the medium-density, high-density and peri-urban areas of Zimbabwe and it covered urban council areas, administrative centres, growth points and other urban areas.
