Nepal has made good progress in the sanitation sector, especially with the announcement that the country became open-defection free (ODF) in 2019. However, the long-term viability of the sector remains an issue.
This paper highlights that fecal sludge compost could be a solution to increasing agricultural production and improving the nutrient content of soils, and suggests that the private sector could play critical role in sustaining fecal sludge management.
Three major issues need to be addressed to further promote fecal sludge as an organic fertilizer in commercial farming: social acceptance of the agriculture produces made of using fecal sludge as an organic fertilizer; continuous supply of such fertilizer; and clear policies on the use of fecal sludge as organic fertilizer need to be endorsed by the government.