A review of child malnutrition identified four underlying determinants of growth failure: national food availability (23%), healthy environments (20%), women's education (43%) and women's status (11%).23 Ecological sanitation impacts favourably on each of these determinants by providing healthier environments and reducing disease, making food more accessible and affordable, empowering women and providing them with disposable resources, and keeping girls in school and better equipped to learn.
The discussion above is summarised below (Table 2). Many advantages to society may accrue with adoption of wide-scale Ecological Sanitation technologies. There are financial benefits, including employment creation and income generation, as well as less expenditures for paying for environmental damage. Ecological benefits accrue as nutrients and water loops are closed. Decentralised toilet systems can foster urban agriculture activity, improving health and nutrition and empowering people