Flushh

Kaveto is the founder and CEO of Worldview Technology (Flushh) in Namibia, a social enterprise that manufactures waterless toilets to provide an affordable, hygienic, and odourless alternative for people in developing communities who practise open defecation due to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructures.

Millions of people in the world do not have access to toilets. Since 2000, the number of countries with less than 50% of the population using a basic sanitation facility has declined only slightly, from 56 to 49. Countries with the lowest coverage are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia(1). Open defecation, which is common in rural and low-income communities, can lead to a whole host of waterborne diseases that flourish in areas with improper waste disposal. These diseases can be medically and financially devastating in communities where people do not have proper medical aid, and travelling to clinics that are many miles away can cost a family their entire income.

Flushh is on a quest to provide adequate sanitation to households in Namibia. The award-winning social enterprise builds cost-effected, waterless toilets for people living in areas without sewage facilities. These waterless toilets provide low-income communities with an odourless, cheap ($100 production cost) and portable (37kg) solution. They include a solar light, hand sanitiser dispenser, secure lock, a mirror, and a coat hook. Their business model is based on training and employing local people to become sanitation champions in their community. Flushh’s waterless toilets address the hygiene challenge of open defecation and do not require new, expensive sewage infrastructure to be built. They also turn human waste into compost, which can be returned to the environment as fertilizer.