ANTANANARIVO: Sanitation Status
Sanitation provision in Antananarivo (the capital of Madagascar) is grossly deficient, as in most cities in sub-Saharan Africa: most people do not have access to a hygienic toilet; large amounts of faecal waste are discharged to the environment without adequate treatment; this is likely to have major impacts on infectious disease burden and quality of life (Hutton et al. 2007). This article briefly summarizes the current sanitation situation in Antananarivo.
This page is part of the fully editable open-access reference source on the sanitation status of all major cities in sub-Saharan Africa. The resource considers the 40 urban agglomerations in sub-Saharan Africa with a current population of 1 million or more. To read some of the other 40 country profiles, go back tothe resource Homepage.
N.B These pages should be considered as incomplete provisional drafts, and contributions are actively requested from specialists with expert local knowledge of each specific city
Table of Contents
- Background information
- Water resources and supply: overview
- Sanitation access
- Sewerage system
- Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
- Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
- Sanitation in low-income districts
- Responsibility
- Sanitation masterplan?
- Sanitation financing
- Major investments and donor interventions
- Sources and further reading
- References
- Other City Profiles
Background information
Antananarivo is an urban agglomeration with a population of about 1.8 million people (Brinkhoff 2010). It is an inland city located along a rocky ridge at about 1300 m above sea level; slopes are high in many parts of the city. Climate is subtropical highland (Köppen classification Cwb). Flooding is frequent and severe in some districts (UNICEF 2007). No information on industrial activity, or agricultural activity within the metropolitan area. A large proportion of the population lives in low-income settlements, including very poor informal settlements.
Water resources and supply: overview
No information on water resources. No detailed information on water access. WSUP (2009) states that, in low-income settlements, about 15% of the population have access to safe water.
Sanitation access
No detailed information on sanitation access. USAID (2009) states that 18% of the urban population of Madagascar have safe sanitation. WSUP (2009) states that, in low-income settlements of Antananarivo, less than 5% of the population have access to hygienic toilets.
Sewerage system
No information available.
Septage management (septage = nightsoil and/or sludge from onsite facilities)
No information available.
Sewage treatment (sewage = sewered wastes and/or septage)
No information available: we do not know whether Antananarivo currently has any major sewage treatment facilities. Plans for construction of sewage treatment facilities are reported in L’Express de Madagascar (2008).
Sanitation in low-income districts
WSUP (see below) reports that it is currently working in 13 low-income districts, including Alasora, Ambohidrapeto, Ankadikely Ilafy, Fokontany and Sabotsy Namehana. Adequate sanitation coverage in these districts is judged to be less than 5%, and infant mortality rate 76 per 1000 (WSUP 2009).
Responsibility
Water supply (together with electricity) is provided mainly by the national public utility JIRAMA. Sanitation responsibilities are fragmented and basically decentralised to the local district (commune) level, where there is a clear lack of human and financial resources: “as a result, sector co-ordination is extremely difficult” (UNDP 2009, USAID 2009). WaterAid (2002) states that the primary national responsibility for sanitation lies with the Sanitation and Sanitation Engineering Service (Service Assainissement et Génie Sanitaire, SAGS) of the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Urban and Regional Planning (Ministère d'Aménagement de Territoire et de la Ville, MINATV) has responsibility for urban sanitation infrastructure; while at the municipal level, water supply and sanitation are run by the Antananarivo Municipal Maintenance Service (Service autonome de maintenance de la ville d'Antananarivo, SAMVA), and/or by the local (commune) authority. For further information on institutional arrangements, see USAID (2009).
Sanitation masterplan?
No information: at present there is presumably neither a sanitation masterplan nor any wider strategic planning document. However, USAID (2009) states that a National Program for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation (PNAEPA) was adopted in 2005, and a Sanitation Policy in 2006.
Sanitation financing
USAID (2009) states that the Antananarivo Autonomous Municipal Maintenance Service (SAMVA), nominally responsible for sewerage, charges a “sewage treatment tax” that JIRAMA adds to water bills. [But as noted above, we have no information about whether Antananarivo has any sewerage network, or faecal sludge management infrastructure, or sewage treatment plants: if any such facilities exist, they are probably small scale and poorly functional.]
Major investments and donor interventions
WSUP “Rano Soa Sy Fidiovana Project”: aiming to improve water supply and sanitation to 220,0000 people in 13 low-income districts; about 6m US$, of which about 60% sanitation, 40% water supply (WSUP 2009, 2010).
USAID (2009) reports that both the World Bank and AfDB are currently involved in urban sanitation projects under the PNAEPA, but no such projects are listed on either institution’s website as at May 2010.
A small sanitation project (72,000 euros) is currently underway with funding from the City of Paris: http://www.pseau.org/outils/actions/action_resultat.php?ac[]=468&tout=1
Sources and further reading
United Nations Information Centre Antananarivo: http://antananarivo.unic.org/
WaterAid (2002) has some more useful information
JIRAMA is the national public electricity and water utility (http://www.jirama.mg/).
References
Brinkhoff T (2010) City Population. http://www.citypopulation.de
Hutton G, Haller L & Bartram J (2007) Economic and health effects of increasing coverage of low cost household drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to countries off-track to meet MDG target 10. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. http://www.irc.nl/page/38443
L’Express de Madagascar (2008) “Des stations d'épuration d'eau à Tananarive”. News report 5 Sep 2008. http://www.mediaterre.org/madagascar/actu,20080909174031.html
UNEP/GRID-Arendal (2002) Water availability in Africa. UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/water_availability_in_africa.
UNDP (2009) Country sector assessments, UNDP GoAL WaSH Programme: Madagascar. http://www.watergovernance.org/documents/WGF/Reports/CSA_GoALWaSH/Madagascar_en.pdf
UNICEF (2007) Madagascar cyclones and floods: Flash appeal revision. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/files/Madagascar_Flash_Appeal_Revision.pdf
USAID (2009) Madagascar: Water and Sanitation Profile. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADO933.pdf
WSUP (2009) Programme Factfile: Antananarivo, Madagascar. http://www.wsup.com/whatwedo/antananarivo.htm
WSUP (2010) Antananarivo: Rano Soa Sy Fidiovana Project: Quarterly Project Bulletin, Spring 2010. http://www.wsup.com/whatwedo/antananarivo.htm
Other City Profiles
4) ANTANANARIVO (Madagascar) 3
7) BRAZZAVILLE (Republic of Congo) 3
12) DAR ES SALAAM (Tanzania) 3
14) DURBAN THEKWINI (South Africa) 3
18) JOHANNESBURG-EKURHULENI (South Africa) 3
23) KINSHASA (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) 3
27) LUBUMBASHI (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) 3
31) MBUJI-MAYI (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) 3
35) OUGADOUGOU (Burkina Faso) 3
36) PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa) 3
