Implementation of solid waste management policies in Kenya: challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The increasing volume and complexity of municipal solid waste associated with the modern economy and rapid urbanisation are increasing concern worldwide. The management of MSW has become a severe problem for governments, especially in developing countries, partly due to the lack of efficient implementation and enforcement of solid waste management (SWM) policies and legislation. This study investigates the challenges associated with the enforcement of SWM policy and legislation and the available opportunities in urban Kenya. We employed qualitative approaches in the data collection, and a thematic analytical approach was used in analysing the data. The results showed that the bane of the Kenyan SWM sector is poor implementation and enforcement of SWM policies and regulations. The key obstacles included corruption, lack of political will, political interference, and cooperation from the citizenry. Besides, the existing policies and frameworks are not evident in content as expected to drive the future of SWM in the country’s cities. The study demonstrated that there is a poor SWM policy implementation and enforcement culture in urban Kenya. Efforts should be made to remove the possible barriers to the effective implementation and enforcement of SWM policies and regulations in the country.

KEYWORDS:

• Solid waste
• policy
• implementation
• urban
• Kenya

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge DFID and ESRC for their financial support through the Urban ARK project. Besides, the authors also extend their acknowledgement to the research team and field workers who realized the implementation of the Urban ARK project and data collection for this study. We also wish express our gratitude to the study participants for agreeing to participate in the study and providing us with this rich information.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the UK Department for International Development and Economic and Social Research Council under Grant [ES/L00777/1].

Notes on contributors

Dickson A. Amugsi

Dickson Amugsi is an Associate Research Scientist attached to the Maternal and Child Wellbeing unit at APHRC. He is a public health scientist with expertise in public health nutrition and nutritional epidemiology. His research interests include but are not limited to maternal and child health, dietary diversity, maternal and child nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, obesity/non-communicable diseases, burden of diseases, urban food systems, urban health and health systems. Dickson holds a PhD in international public health from the University of Bergen in Norway.

Kanyiva Muindi

Kanyiva Muindi is researcher and a FLAIR fellow at the African Population and Health Research Center working within the Urbanization and Wellbeing Program. She has vast experience working within urban informal settlements. Her current research is focusing on mitigating household air pollution in rural households in Machakos County, Kenya, through the introduction of bio-ethanol as a cleaner cooking fuel option. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from Umeå University, Sweden.

Blessing U. Mberu

Blessing Mberu is Head of Urbanization & Wellbeing Research Unit at African Population and Health Research Center and an Honorary Professor of Demography and Population Studies, University of Witwatersrand. He earned his PhD from Brown University, USA. His work covers migration, urbanization and urban health in Africa. He is in the Advisory Board of Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre and Executive Board of the International Society for Urban Health and led multidisciplinary and multi-year research teams across Africa