Economic damage-cost analysis caused by insufficient sanitation in rural Ecuador*

Abstract

Sanitation is an unmet basic need in rural areas. Conventional technology to cover the population without access to this human right does not respond to the reality of the segment of the users who are excluded from this service with the corresponding economic damages. This research based its findings on the Economics Sanitation Initiative methodology, running the model to develop a damage-cost analysis due to the lack of any type of sanitation access in rural Ecuador. The inputs considered are enlisted within the toolkit manual and are at the discretion of the analyst which ones can be included in the study. The most relevant outcomes of the research reveal that sanitation has an impact on health of 1.88%, water resources for human consumption of 0.9%, and overall damage of 2.77% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For this reason, ecosanitation is positioned as a simple and inexpensive alternative for rural communities in Ecuador, capable to avert damages and transforming them into economic benefits for users.