Evaluating the economic sustainability of sanitation logistics in Senegal

Purpose - his research was performed with the aim of determining if the emptying of latrines in a flood-prone urban slum area would be a sustainable and profitable business for private-sector service providers. Design/methodology/approach - Monte-Carlo analysis was used to evaluate the economic sustainability of a proposed public-private waste transportation service. AGIS-assisted route analysis was also performed, with participation by private and public sector stakeholders. Findings - The analysis also showed that if a low-cost subscription service is implemented in the area, the commercial service providers will operate at a loss in all cases, unless changes are made in the truck fuel efficiency, the operating hours of discharge sites, and the transportation network. Research limitations/implications - The research was based on service provider operations costs extrapolated from previous studies and updated through informal interviews. A thorough and transparent review of cost accounting procedures is necessary to validate the results. Practical implications - This study identified challenges and potential solutions which must be addressed by practitioners in order to ensure success of a subscription-based service. Originality/value - This study adds to the existing literature by demonstrating the applicability of an analytic modeling technique based on Monte-Carlo simulation and provides an example of how academic research can be tightly coupled with practitioner needs in order to have a direct impact on operational humanitarian projects.