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3. Priority Infrastructure Needs
Based on the analysis of current challenges, human rights obligations, and development goals, the following infrastructure priorities are identified:
3.1 Drinking Water and Sanitation
- Current Challenges:
- Availability: Water supply is insufficient and discontinuous, particularly in rural areas and urban informal settlements. Sanitation facilities are inadequate, with many schools, health centres, and public places lacking sufficient toilets.
- Accessibility: Physical access to water and sanitation facilities is limited, especially for persons with disabilities, women, children, and older persons. Many rural communities must travel long distances to access water, often from unsafe sources.
- Quality and Safety: Water sources are frequently contaminated, and sanitation facilities are unhygienic, increasing the risk of diseases such as cholera and typhoid. In health facilities, poor sanitation contributes to maternal and infant mortality.
- Affordability: High costs of water and sanitation services, coupled with economic hardship, exclude the poorest communities from access.
- Non-Discrimination: Marginalized groups, including women, children, refugees, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities, face active discrimination and systemic barriers in accessing services.
- Waste Management Linkages: Inadequate sanitation systems contribute to significant organic waste accumulation, particularly in urban areas and informal settlements, where open defecation and uncollected waste contaminate water sources. This not only exacerbates public health risks but also represents a missed opportunity to harness organic waste as a resource for energy generation.
- Priority Needs:
- Rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems, including boreholes, piped water networks, and water treatment plants, particularly in rural and underserved urban areas.
- Construction of safe, hygienic, and accessible sanitation facilities in households, schools, health centres, and public places, ensuring gender-segregated and disability-friendly designs.
- Implementation of water quality monitoring and sanitation safety standards to prevent contamination and disease outbreaks.
- Subsidies and community-based financing models to ensure affordability, particularly for low-income households.
- Targeted interventions to address discrimination, ensuring equitable access for marginalized groups, as emphasized by UN-Water’s human rights-based approach (UN-Water, 2022).
- Development of integrated waste-to-energy systems that convert organic waste streams from sanitation facilities (e.g., sewage sludge, faecal matter) into bio-methane, thereby improving sanitation outcomes while generating renewable energy.
3.2 Health Infrastructure
- Link to Water and Sanitation: Poor water and sanitation in health facilities directly contribute to high maternal and infant mortality rates, as highlighted by ZHRO (2024). The lack of clean water and hygienic toilets in maternity wards increases infection risks, such as postpartum haemorrhage and sepsis.
- Priority Needs:
- Upgrading water and sanitation facilities in health centres, including maternity wards, to meet international standards.
- Equipping hospitals with essential medical supplies and ensuring reliable energy sources to support water and sanitation systems (e.g., water pumps and sterilization equipment).
3.3 Supporting Infrastructure (Energy and Transportation)
- Link to Water and Sanitation: Reliable energy is essential for water pumping, treatment, and sanitation systems, while transportation infrastructure facilitates the delivery of materials and services to remote areas. Additionally, the energy sector can benefit from innovations in sanitation, such as bio-methane production, which can provide a decentralized, renewable energy source to support water and sanitation infrastructure.
- Priority Needs:
- Investment in renewable energy sources, such as solar-powered water pumps, to ensure sustainable water supply systems.
- Rehabilitation of rural road networks to improve access to water and sanitation infrastructure projects.
- Energy:
- Investment in renewable energy sources, such as solar-powered water pumps, to ensure sustainable water supply systems.
- Development of bio-methane production facilities that utilize organic waste from sanitation systems, providing a dual benefit of waste management and energy generation. Bio-methane can be used for electricity generation, heating, or as a fuel for transportation, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and addressing energy deficits in rural and urban areas.
- Integration of bio-methane systems with existing energy grids or as standalone microgrids to power water treatment plants, health facilities, and schools, particularly in off-grid areas.
- Transportation:
- Rehabilitation of rural road networks to improve access to water and sanitation infrastructure projects, including the transportation of organic waste to bio-methane production facilities.
3.4 Circular Economy and Waste-to-Energy Integration
- Rationale: Zimbabwe’s sanitation crisis generates significant organic waste streams, including sewage sludge, faecal matter, and agricultural residues, which are currently underutilized. Converting these waste streams into bio-methane through anaerobic digestion offers a sustainable solution that addresses sanitation, energy, and environmental challenges simultaneously. This approach aligns with circular economy principles, reducing waste, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and providing a renewable energy source to support infrastructure development.
- Priority Needs:
- Construction of anaerobic digestion facilities at scale, strategically located near urban centres, rural sanitation hubs, and agricultural zones to process organic waste from sanitation systems and other sources.
- Development of collection and transportation systems for organic waste, ensuring safe and efficient delivery to bio-methane production facilities.
- Implementation of training programs for local communities, sanitation workers, and technicians to manage and maintain bio-methane systems, fostering job creation and community ownership.
- Integration of bio-methane into national energy strategies, including its use in powering water treatment plants, health facilities, schools, and public transportation, thereby reducing energy costs and improving service delivery.
Establishment of regulatory frameworks to ensure the safe handling, processing, and use of organic waste, including standards for bio-methane quality and environmental protection