Solid Waste Management Practices on Sustainability of Livelihood Projects in Peri-urban Settlements: a Case of Embakasi West Sub- County, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Management of solid refuse has become a challenge due to the increased waste generation brought about by the rising levels of prosperity in industrialized cities and economies due to the volumes of the creation and use of products and services. The existing situation of inadequate waste management has been made worse by the local authorities' lack of institutional and technical capacity to handle trash. In the city, residents' indiscriminate dumping, failure to collect waste, and lack of waste segregation have all become normal. The study's goals were to ascertain the extent to which source reduction influences the sustainability of livelihood projects in peri-urban settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya; to ascertain the impact of recycling organic waste on the sustainability of livelihood projects in peri-urban settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya; and to ascertain the relationship between these two factors determining the degree to which waste volume affects the sustainability of livelihood projects in peri-urban settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya.. Lastly, the research aimed to evaluate the role of solid waste treatment in determining the sustainability of livelihood projects in this region. The research evaluated the hypotheses. The study focused on a target population comprising 3,847 people, which included 3,420 households, 12 administrators from the local Sub-County office in charge of trash management, 12 responders from department of environment and waste management, and 30 members from each of 13 randomly chosen youth groups. In this study, a sample of 349 participants was selected from the target population using simple random sampling. Data collection involved the use of surveys and an interview guide to gather respondents' perspectives. Pilot study conducted in Kamukunji Sub-County was similar to the research zone in terms of features. Data was analyzed through use of SPSS. Tables were used to present the studied data, interpretations were formed, The study found that source reduction R=0.215, R2=0.46, =0.215, t=0.753, F (1,284) = 33.95, p<0.05, recycling organic waste R=0.130, R2=0.170, β=0.130, t=17.336, F (1,284) = 8.530, p<0.05, volume of waste R=0.491, R2=0.241, β=0.491, t=1.149, F (1,284) = 13.800, p<0.05 solid waste treatment R=0.619, R2=0.383, β=0.619, t=0.112, F (1,284) = 10.230, p<0.05 affects the long-term viability of livelihood initiatives in Embakasi West Sub-County. The study gave discussions of findings and conclusions were made. The study further gave recommendations in relations to the findings and areas of further research suggested.