The Sanitation Improvements through Market Strategies had been implemented between 01 January 2013 and 31 March 2016 in one of the largest slums in Nairobi, the Mukuru slum located in the East of the capital. Among the many problems the slum dwellers are facing is the lack of proper sanitation and infrastructure causing vicious outbreaks of disease. The project was designed to address the sanitation crisis and overcome the inherent constraints in a slum community. Having drawn on lessons from other sanitation projects in Mukuru, Kibera and other slums around Nairobi, the project focused on supporting supply of high-quality sanitation facilities on commercial basis and facilitating demand for these services. The waste was collected, processed and marketed as fertilizer, thus creating a complete sanitation value chain. The project also served as a key learning platform to identify best practices and inform various stakeholders including the government of Kenya on cost-effective strategies to deliver adequate sanitation in urban slums.

The main purpose of the evaluation was to obtain objectively substantiated and consistent conclusions that can be used in the decision making of GOAL on the future direction in Kenya in the urban slums sanitation sector with focus on increasing access to affordable sanitation using the Sanitation Improvements through Market Strategies (SIMS) approach. The evaluation was conducted in line with the principles set out by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD with reference to project relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. An additional objective is to assess the project against GOAL’s 10 Key WASH Principles with an objective measurement to allow cross-country meta-analysis.