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Sanitation  remains one of the pillars of good health in Malawi. This study aims at finding ways for improving sanitation for rural people living in areas with water logged sandy soils. It also looks at the mode of construction of local pit latrines and their effectiveness in improving sanitation. The research focuses on the Monkey Bay area of Malawi.

The study establishes that there is need for extensive sanitation education in the area in respect of behavioural change towards sanitation. 55% of people have access to latrines and these are of low quality.
Factors aggravating the poor state of sanitation in Monkey Bay include poverty, construction problems in areas with water logged sandy soil and low appreciation of the importance of improved sanitation. One additional issue is the continuous migration of fishermen living on the fishing grounds along the shoreline of Lake Malawi, who tend to build temporary houses without sanitation facilities.

The study recommends ways that sanitation would be improved in the area:

• continued awareness campaigns and community sensitisation on economic, health, and developmental benefits of improved sanitation
• encourage participation by communities in the provision of sanitation facilities at household and community levels
• intensify capacity building of local people in low cost, environmentally friendly and locally applicable technologies.

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