Presentation held by Helfrid Schulte-Herbrüggen, Ecoloop, at the SIANI Annual Meeting 2018

1. SIANI Expert Group: Strengthening collaboration at
the WASH, food and nutrition nexus to build
community resilience in low income countries
(WASHnut)
Contact: helfrid.schulte.herbruggen@ecoloop.se

2. Linkages between water, sanitation and food production
for food and nutrition security (2016)

4. Key messages
Integrated management is technically feasible. However, it is
hampered by several barriers, including silo thinking, lack of
cross-sectoral communication, and lack of working models.
To promote integrated management, there is a need for cross-
sectoral goals, knowledge- sharing and dissemination of well-
illustrated case studies of cross-sectoral management
experiences.

5. Expert group 2 (2017)
Strengthening collaboration at the WASH, food and nutrition nexus to
build community resilience in low income countries (WASHnut)
Objective: Find 10 case studies, development country focus
Synthesise practical guidance how to link WASH, food and nutrition
security sectors and ways of operationalizing resilience within
development projects.
Questions: 1) motivation, 2) facilitation in early stages, 3) overcoming
challenges, 4) resilience and cross-sectoral work

6. Cross-sectoral case studies
• PeePoople (Kenya)
• International Aid Service (Kenya)
• Sanergy (Kenya)
• The Salvation Army (Kenya)
• Centre for Community Initiatives (Tanzania)
• Action for Rural Women’s Empowerment (Uganda)
• Sumaj Huasi Foundation (Bolivia)
• Swedish Agricultural University (Sweden)
• Save the Children (Burkina Faso)

7. Motivation

8. What motivates cross-sectoral projects?
Stick (Push factors)
• Crisis
• Complexity
• Demand driven
• Healthy community needed
Carrot (Pull factors)
• Government encouragement
• Research inspired
• Economic
• Environment
• Added value/benefit
• Prestige

9. What challenges at intervention stage are
specific to cross-sectoral projects?
• Policy/standards: Lack of support from legal system. Lack of
standards and certification
• Government support: Lack of coordination between authorities
representing different sectors, unclear responsibilities
• Multiple partners: time required for discussion, MoUs etc
• Staff capacity: Capacity to work on complex community problems
across sectors, knowledge of entire value chains, technology
• Users: Social stigma. Safety concerns. Lack of acceptance. Lack of
knowledge on technology use

10. Which factors facilitate the early stages of
cross-sectoral projects?
• Attitude: Positive attitude. Willing to collaborate with other sectors,
goodwill
• Starting small: demonstrating pilot. Trying things small prior to
scaling up
• Learning: Willing to try new things and learn from mistakes
• Local engagement: User acceptance. Ownership by local people
• Research support: cost-effective and context specific research
findings
• Context understanding: contextual system understanding.
Platforms for cross-sectoral discussions

11. Workshop: Nairobi (4-6th of Dec 2017)

13. Visit to TSA, Kibera

14. Key messages and learnings
• Cross-sectoral projects require more resources (time, funds, knowledge
and skills) and require more intensive planning, but have high positive
impact
• Cross-sectoral work is way to address complex challenges in communities
• Importance of different sector-specific cultures
• Business opportunities within WASH-nutrition-food security sectors and
reuse. Economic empowerment is glue between sectors
Key stakeholders: business, government, capacity building organisations

15. Next steps
• Infographic with interviews and case studies
• Welcome to seminar and workshop 23rd of March, Stockholm!
https://www.siani.se/expert-groups/strengthening-collaboration-wash-
food-nutrition-nexus-build-community-resilience-low-income-
countries-washnut/