Factors Influencing Volunteering among Community Sanitation Volunteers: Implications for Sustainability of Community Approaches to Sanitation in Rural Zambia

Sanitation and hygiene behavior change programs have benefitted from the contribution of volunteers who give their time to improve access to sanitation, particularly in rural communities in Africa. The study aimed to assess factors influencing volunteering among community sanitation volunteers from rural communities in Zambia. Community volunteers who spread awareness on sanitation in their communities as well as reported progress on latrine construction and coverage participated in the study. The main constructs of the theory of planned behavior were applied to predict volunteering intention to participate in reporting progress on latrine construction by rural households in communities with low access to sanitation. The study further analyzed volunteers’ opinions on the importance of receiving financial incentives to participate in volunteering. Results from ordinal logistic regression analysis show that attitude and subjective norms significantly predicted volunteering intention. This finding suggests a favorable view of the program by sanitation volunteers. It also suggests that approval from significant others could influence volunteering intention and strengthen participation in community-based sanitation programs. However, the majority of participants indicated a need to receive financial incentives for volunteering. More insight is needed into external factors that may present as barriers to volunteering and how they affect the sustainability of behavior change sanitation interventions.