Exploring the practices of implementing sanitation policies: A case study on the role of street-level professionals in Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay County, Kenya

Abstract

Current coverage estimates of drinking water and sanitation facilities show that a large proportion of people in the world still do not have access to the simplest type of toilet, a simple pit latrine, or a source of safe drinking water, despite decades of interventions. This raises the question of why it is so difficult to increase access to sanitation services. In the end, building ‘more infrastructure’ is not so difficult. This is also the case in Kenya, where about half of the population does not have access to sanitation facilities. In the WASH sector, donors, (inter)national NGOs and policymakers devote much effort of their time in getting the ‘right’ policy models, to make policies work in practice. This is based on the assumption that a ‘good’ policy model is a pre-requisite for improving the situation on the ground and that ‘development’ is an outcome of getting the policy right. The research argues that implementing professionals, conceptualized as ‘street-level professionals’ in this research have an essential role in implementing policies. Therefore, implementation practices of sanitation policies are investigated through the lens of street-level professionals. They are the frontline actors who are involved in the actual implementation of policy, and who are able to exert influence, or (in)direct control, on what is implemented (or not). Hence, policies that are written on paper only come to life when street-level professionals get to work with it. By the use of qualitative research methods, such as interviews, focus group discussions, observations and content analysis of government and organizational policies, the implementation practices of street-level professionals were explored. This study demonstrates a hierarchy of knowledge exists in the policies related to sanitation provision and that street-level professionals broker diverse interests in the field, namely their own interest, their organizations’ interest and the beneficiaries’ interest, i.e. those interests of who the sanitation policies are intended for. This process takes place in a context that is influenced by party politics and environmentally constraining factors.