| dc.description.abstract | In Kenya, solid waste management is a key area of worry in countless urban centers as well as other developing countries. It poses a significant threat to public health as well as environmental degradation. In major urban centers within the country (Kenya), there is evidence of rampant pollution from haphazard dumping, inadequate infrastructure for solid waste collection. Waste collection by the private sector is unregulated adding to the growing challenge.
This study, therefore, aimed at generating data on the current solid waste management state within Kiambu County as well as identifying challenges and opportunities to advance the present-day solid waste management practices within Kiambu.
The study focused on Kiambu County municipal areas. A survey was carried to obtain information about how the devolved system of governance handles waste, and the levels of compliance to set rules and policies of Kiambu County in the management of solid waste. Information was collected using descriptive study because it provided respondents with an opportunity to describe the phenomenon under study.
The unit of analysis in this study was solid waste management in relation to the devolved system of government. The units of observation were the respondents who were stakeholders in waste management within Kiambu County. The respondents included the Chief Officer Environment, NEMA officers within the County, Sub-County Administrators, privategarbage collectors as well as Sub-County Environment Officers.
Quantitative data was obtained from 12 Sub-County administrators from 12 sub counties in Kiambu County, 1 chief officer as well as 12 sub-county environment officer, 100 private garbage collectors as well as 5 NEMA officers within Kiambu County. Qualitative data was collected from key informants who included residents who had lived within the municipal areas for over 15 years, members of county assembly, some head teachers as well as church leaders. Sample size from the various strata was selected using simple random sampling. In the case of some respondents, the whole target population was interviewed without sampling.
The results showed that over 94% of people interviewed had undergone undergraduate studies. The relationship between level of education and solid waste management cannot be underestimated. This is because education helps shape people’s attitudes. During the study period, the researcher also found out that many of the respondents were understood the basics of solid waste management concerns. They also understood the risks of improper waste management to both the environment as well as human health. However, many projected frustrations on lack of proper structures by the county government to handle solid waste.
The results of the study showed that various stakeholders are involved in management of solid waste in Kiambu County who include the local authority; community based organizations, churches, NGOs, and self-help groups as well as private firms. However, the Local Authority/County Government was the major stakeholder in management of solid waste within the County.
The study results also established that majority of the respondents would prefer waste to be collected once in a week, on the other hand 25% wanted it collected twice a week, 6% once in two weeks 4% twice a month and finally 3% once in a month. The study also established ranking of waste collectors by the target population with many of the respondents ranking the services of domestic garbage collectors to be good (51%), very good (31%), poor (12%) and very poor (6%).
The study also showed some problems encountered in solid waste management which included bulkiness of waste, storage method and device, foul smell, distance from the disposal site from some residences, poor transportation, poor collection and management of disposal sites. The findings of the study brought out the need for an integrated approach towards SWM, implementing waste-to-energy projects within the county, harmonizing reporting systems to minimize duplication of efforts, incorporating SWM into fundamental County planning and finally, coming up with a SWM law for Kiambu County. | en_US |
