Water filter introduction Cameroon

The NGO ADEID is involved in health work in the Baffousam area in Cameroon. The yearly outbreak of Cholera at the beginning of the rainy season has triggered the idea to introduce water filters in this area, as consumption of untreated water is the major cause of water borne diseases as Cholera. In 2006, ADEID and PRACTICA have indicated possibilities for sustainable local production of ceramic filters, which was the start of the first phase of this project.

Goals overview

This project is the second phase of starting up local production and a sustainable market for ceramic water filters in Western Cameroon. After the first training, installation of basic production means and market exploration, the second phase focuses on social marketing and the business model of the filter production. Both are essential in setting up sustainable market channels for the ceramic water filter.

Current status

With a donation from Earth Water and de Parade, a first phase has been financed. In this phase, staff from ADEID and PRESCRAFT has been trained at Resource Development International in Cambodia, one of the best ceramic water filter producers worldwide. With this training, both organizations in Cameroon are now working on a detailed implementation plans. For the fall of 2009, the following actions are going to be carried out:
- Basic production equipment will be shipped from Cambodia to PRESCRAFT in Cameroon so a first start with experimental production can be made. This will result in a better understanding of the next steps needed to scale up production to full size;
- A first batch of some 100 complete ceramic water filter units will be send from Cambodia to ADEID in Cameroon. With these filters, ADEID can carry out a pilot distribution and pilot social marketing campaign. The pilot will lead to a full understanding of the market potential of ceramic water filters in the region and will lay the basis for a detailed implementation and social marketing plan.
Both actions are planned for November - December 2009 and results should be available early 2010. Presentation of the results will be done through the RSR system on the AKVO site.

Project plan

This project is expected to take 1 year. After this year, the main goals should be achieved and both ADEID and PRESCRAFT should be able to continue production and (social) marketing of the water filters. The planning of the project is not fixed yet and will depend largely on the progress on the specific tasks. This will include:
- Setting up a social marketing campaign for the water filters in Western province in Cameroon;
- Professionalizing the filter production at PRESCRAFT and organizing this in such a way that it can function as an independent business;
- Setting-up a quality control system to assure that the filters produced are completely according to the standards (for this, the project will make use of the results of the research currently being carried out by the Dutch Ceramic Water Filter Research Group);
The money requested for this project will be used for production means for ceramic water filter production (machines, tools, other investments), promotion and training (workshops, flyers, media campaigns, etc) and technical support from PRACTICA foundation and different producers of ceramic water filters (training, south-south knowledge exchange, etc.).
For questions or project details, please do contact PRACTICA foundation (contact person Jan Nederstigt): +31786150125 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +31786150125      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +31786150125      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Expected outcomes

• set up a social marketing campaign for ceramic water filters
• assist in professionalizing ceramic water filter production
• create sustainable marketing channels for water filters

Through this project, local production of the ceramic water filters in Cameroon is established. This product will enter the market as a commercial product, with the local partner ADEID focussing on social marketing of the water filters and the health and hygiene and establishing sustainable marketing channels for the water filter. This business model should ensure local availability of (spare) parts and at the same time supporting the local economy.
This project will be used to set up the structures needed to support water filter production, quality control and social marketing. The ultimate goal is (although ambitious) to finance social marketing totally from the income generated with sales of the water filters to end users and NGO’s. This concept has proven to be feasible by both IDE and RDI in Cambodia and by Filtron in Nicaragua.