...Throughout the developing world manyof the urban poor depend on informal,private small-scale providers forsanitation services. Theseentrepreneurs receive no governmentresources but survive by offeringservices that the consumers want andare willing to pay for. Until fairlyrecently Small Scale Providers (SSPs)were thought to offer only temporary,short-term solutions to the increasingand unmet demand for sanitationservices and were often ignored bygovernment policy makers and donors.But there is growing recognition that ameaningful response to the needs oflow-income and informal areas mustinvolve partnerships between smallentrepreneurs and formal utilities. One ofthe reasons for this change in attitude isthe persistent failure by municipalitiesand public utilities to meet servicedemands in slum settlements thatdevelop on the outskirts of cities andtowns. This gap can be filled by SSPswho have shown remarkableresourcefulness in finding simple, buteffective, solutions often under the mostadverse operating conditions.Kibera a sprawling informal settlement inNairobi, Kenya, is home to half a millionpeople. Here, Small Scale Providers ofSanitation Services (SSPSS) play acentral role in sanitation provision,including the management of publictoilet blocks, the construction of latrines,and the removal of sludge

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