Implementation Of Community Led Total Sanitation Program In Kajiado County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Open defecation refers to defecating in bushes, fields, water bodies and other places that are open. Across the world, approximately 1 billion people are practicing open defecation. This is worse in sub-Saharan Africa where about 215 million people defecate in the open. In Kenya, an estimated 5.6 million people practice defecation in the open. The introduction of Community Led Total Sanitation strategy by the Ministry of Health has not achieved its goal of improved sanitation and hygiene due to poor implementation. The study sought to assess implementation of Community Led Total Sanitation in Kajiado County, Kenya. The specific objectives of this study included determining socio-cultural factors, functional pit-latrine to household ratio, knowledge level and attitude towards community led total sanitation in Kajiado County. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional study design adopting both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Quantitative data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires from selected household heads while qualitative data was collected using key informant interview schedules with 8 selected Key Informants. Additional qualitative data was obtained through Focused Group Discussion sessions with selected primary respondents. The study interviewed 303 household heads selected using systematic random sampling with a predetermined interval of 3. Descriptive statistics were calculated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 with the aid of Microsoft Excel program to generate frequency tables, graphs and pie-charts. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis and results triangulated with quantitative data as direct quotes or narrations. To test the relationship between study variables, Chi-Square tests done at 95% confidence interval (p