Cost effectiveness of community led total sanitation in Ethiopia and Ghana.

We conducted cost effectiveness analyses of four different CLTS interventions implemented in Ethiopia and Ghana. In each country, a pilot approach in which additional local actors were trained in CLTS facilitation was compared to the conventional approach. Data were collected using bottom-up costing, household surveys, and observations. We assessed variability of cost effectiveness from a societal perspective for latrine ownership and latrine use outcomes in different contexts. Cost effectiveness ranged from $34-$1897 per household ($5.85-$563 per person) gaining access to a private latrine or stopping open defecation, depending on the intervention, context, and outcome considered. For three out of four interventions, CLTS appeared more cost effective at reducing open defecation than at increasing latrine ownership, although sensitivity analysis revealed considerable variation. The pilot approaches were more cost effective at reducing open defecation than conventional approaches in Ethiopia, but not in Ghana. CLTS has been promoted as a low-cost means of improving the ownership and use of sanitation facilities. In our study, the cost of CLTS per household gaining latrine access was slightly higher than in other studies, and the cost of CLTS per household stopping OD was slightly lower than in other studies. Our results show that aggregate measures mask considerable variability in costs and outcomes, and thus the importance of considering and reporting context and uncertainty in economic analysis of sanitation interventions.