Abstracts Business

Assessing project sustainability in development cooperation : case Msunduza Dry Sanitation Project

by Anni Salla

Development cooperation has changed from short-term disaster aid to multilevel cooperation with the target areas. Additionally, the quality of the results in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability is now seen as an overall objective to aim for. Project practises, which are one from of development cooperation, have various benefits that, however, are somewhat of challenges at the same time. The outcomes are rather easy to point out due to restricted intervention area but sustainability of the outcomes is regarded relatively challenging to achieve. Sustainability among the other quality criteria contributes to the overall development in the area and secures the productivity of the benefits for the future generations. Turku University of Applied Sciences together with Global Dry Toilet Association of Finland, the Salvation Army Swaziland and the City Council of Mbabane executed a development project in Swaziland, southern Africa. Msunduza Dry Sanitation Project (2007-2013) aimed to create a sustainable and healthy sanitation culture in Msunduza, one of the largest residential areas in the capital city Mbabane. This research assesses the sustainability of the project through different sustainability dimensions and clarifies the level of assimilation and distribution, operation and maintenance, and institutional structures supporting dry sanitation. The biggest challenges concerning sustainability revealed to be in the field of community participation and cooperation. Working relations between individuals and institutions seemed to suffer from personal conflicts and insufficient communication. Additionally, the ownership of the project practises has not been reached and this can be seen in an inadequately functioning collaboration and badly maintained dry toilets. Also education revealed to be not efficient enough to meet the needs of the community members to be able to use compost and urine from the dry toilets built by the project. As a conclusion, dry sanitation related activities are likely to decrease now after the end of the project or if the existing institutions will function properly, the achieved level of improvements may stay stable. The years right after the end are the most sensitive ones and will determine the future of the project outcomes.; Kehitysyhteistyö on muuttunut alkuaikojen hätäavusta monitasoisempaan yhteistyömuotoiseen toimintaan. Lisäksi työn tehokkuus, vaikuttavuus ja kestävyys nähdään laadun kriteereinä ja kokonaisvaltaisina tavoitteina. Kehitysyhteistyöllä on monia muotoja, joista yksi on projekti- eli hankemuotoinen toiminta. Sillä on monia hyviä puolia, jotka kuitenkin samaa aikaa voidaan nähdä sen heikkouksina. Hyvin rajatun toiminnan vuoksi projektien tulokset ovat usein helposti nähtävissä, mutta niiden kestävyys katsotaan kuitenkin melko vaikeasti saavutettavaksi. Kestävyys vaikuttaa alueen yleiseen kehitysprosessiin ja vahvistaa tulosten tuoman vaikutuksen saatavuutta myös seuraavilla sukupolvilla. Turun ammattikorkeakoulu yhdessä Käymäläseura Huussi ry:n,…