ODF Sanitation and Hygiene Household Survey – Ntchisi & Dowa District 2019 • dowaodfsurvey

This dataset was collected as part of the Open Defecation Free (ODF) Verification Exercise conducted in 2019 across selected Traditional Authorities (TAs) in Dowa and Ntchisi districts in Malawi. The data was gathered using the mWater platform under the coordination of BASEflow, a Malawian NGO focused on strengthening sustainable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

The dataset includes household-level observations on sanitation facility types, hygiene practices, and menstrual hygiene management (MHM). It captures the availability, usage, and quality of latrines, handwashing facilities, and bathing areas—along with behavioral indicators like privacy, safety, and waste disposal practices. The goal was to assess whether communities met the conditions for ODF certification.

Potential Use Cases

This dataset may be useful for:

WASH Practitioners and NGOs To monitor sanitation coverage, identify behavior change needs, and design targeted interventions in rural settings.
Government Agencies and District Councils As evidence for validating ODF status, planning sanitation improvements, and aligning with national sanitation strategies.
Researchers and Public Health Experts To study sanitation behavior, infrastructure gaps, and their impact on community health and hygiene.
Development Partners and Donors To track progress towards SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), evaluate past investments, and guide future funding priorities.
Advocacy and Communication Specialists To develop localized messaging and campaigns promoting sustained use of improved sanitation and hygiene practices.

Installation

You can install the development version of dowaodfsurvey from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("openwashdata/dowaodfsurvey")

## Run the following code in console if you don't have the packages
## install.packages(c("dplyr", "knitr", "readr", "stringr", "gt", "kableExtra"))
library(dplyr)
library(knitr)
library(readr)
library(stringr)
library(gt)
library(kableExtra)

Alternatively, you can download the individual datasets as a CSV or XLSX file from the table below.

Click Download CSV. A window opens that displays the CSV in your browser.
Right-click anywhere inside the window and select “Save Page As…”.
Save the file in a folder of your choice.

dataset	CSV	XLSX
dowaodf	Download CSV	Download XLSX

Data

The package provides access to Open Defecation Free (ODF) Verification Exercise survey data conducted in 2019 across selected Traditional Authorities (TAs) in Dowa and Ntchisi districts in Malawi

library(dowaodfsurvey)

dowaodf

The dataset dowaodf has 939 observations and 34 variables

dowaodf |> 
  head(3) |> 
  gt::gt() |>
  gt::as_raw_html()

survey_date	district	gvh	health_facility	sanitation_observed	sanitation_type	pit_cover_or_seal	sanitation_near_water	sanitation_distance	has_privacy	has_security	has_roof	shared_sanitation	child_faeces_disposal	child_faeces_disposal_other	usual_defecation_place	faeces_seen_in_village	faeces_around_house	handwash_near_sanitation	handwash_has_water	handwash_has_soap	handwash_in_use	mhm_materials_used	mhm_cleaned	mhm_cleaning_method	mhm_drying_method	mhm_disposal_place	has_bathroom	bathing_has_water	bathing_water_source	bathroom_has_soap	bathroom_in_use	bathroom_has_privacy	bathroom_has_security
7/1/2019	Dowa	Mduku	Mbingwa Health Centre	Yes	Pit latrine (without concrete slab)	No	Yes	Between 20 and 30 paces	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	In a toilet/latrine	NA	NA	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Reusable cloth or rags	Yes	Water and soap	Somewhere inside	NA	Yes	Yes	Borehole	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
7/1/2019	Dowa	Mduku	Mbingwa Health Centre	Yes	Pit latrine (without concrete slab)	Yes	Yes	More than 30 paces	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	In a toilet/latrine	NA	NA	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Reusable cloth or rags	Yes	Water and soap	NA	NA	Yes	Yes	Unprotected spring/surface water/dug well	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
7/1/2019	Dowa	Mduku	Mbingwa Health Centre	Yes	Pit latrine (without concrete slab)	No	No	Less than 10 paces	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	In a toilet/latrine	NA	NA	No	No	No	No	No	No	Reusable cloth or rags	Yes	Water and soap	Somewhere inside	NA	Yes	Yes	Unprotected spring/surface water/dug well	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

For an overview of the variable names, see the following table.

variable_name	variable_type	description
survey_date	character	Date the household survey was completed
district	character	Name of the district where the household is located
gvh	character	Name of the Group Village Headman (GVH) area
health_facility	character	Name of the nearest or associated health facility
sanitation_observed	character	Whether a sanitation facility was observed at the household
sanitation_type	character	Type of sanitation facility observed (e.g., pit latrine, flush toilet)
pit_cover_or_seal	character	Whether the facility has a pit cover or water seal to block flies
sanitation_near_water	character	Whether the sanitation facility is located within 30m of a water point
sanitation_distance	character	Approximate distance of the facility from the household
has_privacy	character	Whether the sanitation facility offers visual privacy
has_security	character	Whether the sanitation facility provides physical security
has_roof	character	Whether the facility has a roof to prevent rain entry
shared_sanitation	character	Whether the sanitation facility is shared with other households
child_faeces_disposal	character	How faeces of children are disposed of (e.g., in toilet, open area)
child_faeces_disposal_other	character	If other disposal method is used, specify it
usual_defecation_place	character	Where household members usually defecate
faeces_seen_in_village	character	Whether respondent observed faeces in the village in the past 6 months
faeces_around_house	character	Whether faeces were observed around the household at the time of visit
handwash_near_sanitation	character	Whether a handwashing facility is within 10 paces of the sanitation facility
handwash_has_water	character	Whether the handwashing facility has water available
handwash_has_soap	character	Whether soap is available at the handwashing station
handwash_in_use	character	Whether there is evidence that the handwashing station is being used
mhm_materials_used	character	Menstrual hygiene materials used by women in the household
mhm_cleaned	character	Whether reusable menstrual materials are cleaned
mhm_cleaning_method	character	How menstrual materials are cleaned (e.g., water and soap)
mhm_drying_method	character	How menstrual materials are dried (e.g., sun, inside room)
mhm_disposal_place	character	Where menstrual materials are disposed of
has_bathroom	character	Whether the household has a designated bathroom facility
bathing_has_water	character	Whether sufficient water is available for bathing
bathing_water_source	character	Source of water used for bathing (e.g., borehole, unprotected spring)
bathroom_has_soap	character	Whether soap is available at the bathroom facility
bathroom_in_use	character	Whether there is evidence that the bathroom facility is being used
bathroom_has_privacy	character	Whether the bathroom offers visual privacy
bathroom_has_security	character	Whether the bathroom provides physical security

Example Visualization

library(dowaodfsurvey)

# Visualization: Sanitation vs Proximity to Water (Grouped Bar Chart)
# Purpose: Important for understanding contamination risk and public health safety.
# Load necessary libraries
library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)
library(readr)

# Step 1: Load your package
library(dowaodfsurvey)

# Step 2: Clean and prepare data
data_clean <- dowaodf %>%
  filter(
    !is.na(sanitation_type),
    sanitation_type != "No toilet", sanitation_type != "NA"
  ) %>%
  mutate(
    sanitation_type = as.factor(sanitation_type),
    sanitation_near_water = as.factor(sanitation_near_water)
  )

# Step 3: Group and count data
summary_data <- data_clean %>%
  group_by(sanitation_type, sanitation_near_water) %>%
  summarise(count = n(), .groups = "drop")

# Step 4: Plot grouped bar chart
ggplot(summary_data, aes(x = sanitation_type, y = count, fill = sanitation_near_water)) +
  geom_bar(stat = "identity", position = "dodge") +
  labs(
    title = "Sanitation Type vs Proximity to Water Source",
    x = "Sanitation Type",
    y = "Number of Facilities",
    fill = "Sanitation Near Water"
  ) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 30, hjust = 1))

License

Data are available as CC-BY.

Citation

Please cite this package using:

citation("dowaodfsurvey")
#> To cite package 'dowaodfsurvey' in publications use:
#> 
#>   Mhango E (2025). _dowaodfsurvey: ODF Sanitation and Hygiene Household
#>   Survey – Ntchisi & Dowa District 2019_. R package version 0.0.0.9000,
#>   <https://github.com/openwashdata/dowaodfsurvey>.
#> 
#> A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
#> 
#>   @Manual{,
#>     title = {dowaodfsurvey: ODF Sanitation and Hygiene Household Survey – Ntchisi & Dowa District 2019},
#>     author = {Emmanuel Mhango},
#>     year = {2025},
#>     note = {R package version 0.0.0.9000},
#>     url = {https://github.com/openwashdata/dowaodfsurvey},
#>   }