Research on the Impact of Targeted Subsidies within Open Defecation Free (ODF) Communities - Inception Report

USAID’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (USAID/WASHPaLS) project undertook research to investigate whether targeted subsidies are an effective way to help sustain the gains achieved by CLTS. Specifically, we aimed to answer the following three research questions:

1. To what extent do targeted subsidies within ODF communities result in sustained latrine coverage, quality, and use among the most vulnerable households?
2. To what extent do these benefits spill over to the rest of the community?
3. What are the costs and challenges of implementing a post-ODF targeted subsidy program?

Our hypothesis for the first question was that targeted sanitation subsidies in ODF communities will increase and help sustain latrine coverage, quality, and use amongst the targeted households.

Our hypothesis for the second question was that increased latrine coverage, quality, and use among targeted households encourage the rest of the community to make similar improvements.