An Economic Assessment Of Household Solid Waste Management Options: The Case Of Kibera Slum, Nairobi City, Kenya

Abstract

Kenya every person has a duty to cooperate with state organs and other persons to protect and conserve the environment and ensure ecologically sustainable development and prudent use of natural resources. The rights and responsibilities to environment are however, apparently neglected with respect to waste management. This study characterized the different types of household solid waste in Kibera slum and assessed the determinants of households' choice of solid waste management options. The study used both primary and secondary data. A sample of 250 households was drawn using a multi-stage random sampling technique. This study sought to answer four research questions; first on the major types of solid waste produced by households,second on the waste management options known to households, third on the possibilities for effective recycling and/or reuse and finally on how household attributes, institutional and agricultural factors influence the choice of solid waste management options by households in the slum. Management options hyphothesized in this study included solid waste reuse, burning, recycling and disposal.Descriptive statistics was used to answer the questions on the types of waste, the management options known to households and the possibility for potential recycling and/or reuse. Multinomial logit regression model was applied in assessing the effect of household, institutional and agricultural attributes on the choice of solid waste management options. Findings were that ownership of slum/sack gardens, livestock keeping, contractual arrangements, income, years of schooling, family size, disposal returns and waste segregation had significant effects on household solid waste management. The implication of these findings is that enforcing contractual arrangements will provide a solution to unauthorised household solid waste disposal.