How to Assess the Size of a Sanitation Market and Segment It

Any market-based intervention must be based on a good understanding of the size and characteristics of the potential market for various products and services in the target areas. This document explains how to group potential customers into submarkets, called “segments,” with similar characteristics, such as behaviors, socioeconomic status, needs, and desires. Being able to show the market size and its characteristics will help to stimulate public and private investments in the sanitation sector toward the products most likely to contribute to the sustainable economic viability of the sanitation market. This project aimed to support the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)-funded Resilience Food Security Activities in Niger to develop a comprehensive market development strategy focused on the availability and supply of improved latrines and handwashing-related products in the Maradi and Zinder regions of Niger.