David Auerbach from Sanergy, a social enterprise in Kenya that has been identified and supported by Eleos Foundation, has grown into an opportunity for impact investors.
Saner.gy builds sustainable sanitation in the urban slums of Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. So you may ask, what is sustainable sanitation? It’s a market-driven solution to the sanitation problems of people living in extreme poverty.
Worldwide, 2.6 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation causing disease and water pollution that kills 1.7 million each year and causes the loss of $84 billion in worker productivity each year. In Kenya’s slums alone, 8 million people lack access to adequate sanitation.
Sanergy has a unique approach to this problem. There are four parts to the program that addresses the issue while building jobs:
- Build a network of low-cost sanitation centers in slums,
- Distribute them through franchising to local entrepreneurs,
- Collect the waste produced, and
- Process the human waste into organic fertilizer that can be sold and develop electricity by using the bio-gases created through the organic processing.
Sanergy has recently joined with Kiva to allow individuals help combat the deaths caused by lack of sanitation in areas of extreme poverty. Visit the Kiva website and choose advanced options on the “Choose a Borrower” page. Search for Sanergy under “partners.”
Watch the video to learn more about Sanergy. Feel free to contact the Sanergy team through their website, Facebook page and Twitter @Sanergy. You can talk with David at one of the California events hosted by The Eleos Foundation:
- October 2 at Fort Mason in San Francisco at the SOCAP conference.
- October 4 in Santa Barbara at 1111 Chapala Street at 3:00, or
- October 5 in Los Angeles. Contact the Eleos Foundation for details.
