Jumping up the sanitation ladder in rural Cambodia: The role of remittances and peer-to-peer pressure in adopting high-quality latrines

Over the last 50 years, a combination of factors has driven sanitation improvements in rural areas of low-income and emerging economies in Asia. While open defecation remains an important challenge in many countries, Cambodia has rapidly increased rural sanitation coverage in the last 20 years. Using data collected via 92 interviews and seven focus group discussions, this qualitative study analysed the macro-level, community, and individual factors that motivated rural households to invest in high-quality latrines in seven villages in Cambodia that achieved and sustained open defecation free status with at least 85% latrine coverage. Local demand for adoption of high quality latrine was stimulated by a number of factors which include: a) NGO-led interventions that included behaviour change communication, sanitation marketing, and community-led total sanitation, all magnified by the strong support of local leaders at the village and commune levels; b) an increased proportion of rural households engaging in factory work, with access to raising wages, higher disposable incomes, and remittances; and c) subsidies and microcredit. Furthermore, migrants not only transferred financial resources to their home villages, but also transferred a set of ideas, norms, expectations, information, and behaviors back to their communities that reflect the migrants’ new ways of life, and economic possibilities. We provide evidence that new habits among factory workers, and ownership and display of new technologies and consumer commodities as symbols of modern success and social status facilitated high-quality latrine adoption. Peer-to-peer pressure at the village level, and among adult children commuting to factories or visiting their rural hometown ensured widespread adoption.