Bridging Weak Links of Solid Waste Management in Informal Settlements

• Date: 01 March 2017
• Author: María José Zapata Campos,Jutta Gutberlet,Jaan-Henrik Kain,Patrik Zapata,Michael Oloko,Belinda Nyakinya
• DOI: 10.1177/1070496516672263
• Published date: 01 March 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Bridging Weak Links of

Solid Waste Management

in Informal Settlements

Jutta Gutberlet

1

, Jaan-Henrik Kain

2

,

Belinda Nyakinya

3,4

, Michael Oloko

5

,

Patrik Zapata

6

, and Marı

´a Jose

´Zapata Campos

6

Abstract

Many cities in the global South suffer from vast inadequacies and deficiencies in their

solid waste management. In the city of Kisumu in Kenya, waste management is frag-

mented and insufficient with most household waste remaining uncollected. Solid

waste enters and leaves public space through an intricate web of connected,

mostly informal, actions. This article scrutinizes waste management of informal

settlements, based on the case of Kisumu, to identify weak links in waste manage-

ment chains and find neighborhood responses to bridge these gaps. Systems theory

and action net theory support our analysis to understand the actions, actors, and

processes associated with waste and its management. We use qualitative data from

fieldwork and hands on engagement in waste management in Kisumu. Our main

conclusion is that new waste initiatives should build on existing waste management

practices already being performed within informal settlements by waste scavengers,

waste pickers, waste entrepreneurs, and community-based organizations.

Keywords

household waste, solid waste management, system dynamics, action net, informal

settlement, Kisumu, Kenya

Journal of Environment &

Development

2017, Vol. 26(1) 106–131

!The Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/1070496516672263

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1

University of Victoria, Canada

2

Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

3

Department of Environment, City of Kisumu, Kenya

4

UNEP-Tongji IESD, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

5

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Kenya

6

University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Corresponding Author:

Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers University of Technology, SE412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.

Email: kain@chalmers.se

This article examines solid household waste f‌lows in informal settlements,

informed by the case of Kisumu, Kenya. The aim is to identify the weak links

of such systems that turn them inef‌fective in localities where the needs for

improved services are the most pressing. Kisumu is a city of more than 500,000

inhabitants located at the shores of Lake Victoria (Figure 1). It has a large,

unplanned peri-urban fringe where more than 50% of the population lives in

informal settlements (County Government of Kisumu, 2015). Here, the greater

part of the waste remains uncollected. Existing by-laws, policies, and programs

have commendable ambitions but have not yet delivered the needed impact due to

weak technical and f‌inancial capacity and poor implementation. As the

population growth rate is estimated at 1.86% (County Government of Kisumu,

2015), the current problems will likely escalate if innovative measures are not

taken.

The waste situation in Kisumu is not unique. Informal settlements in the

global South typically face severe environmental and health consequences

from inef‌fective household waste management. Communities end up depending

on individual waste pickers, recycling groups, community-based organizations

Obunga

Kachok dump site

CBD

Nyalenda

Figure 1. The central areas of Kisumu (including the Central Business District, CBD) con-

stitute the formal part of the city with some service delivery, such as electricity, water, and

sewage. The formal city is surrounded by a fringe of informal settlements—Nyalenda,

Manyatta, Obunga, and more—with extremely poor service delivery. The city’s open waste

dump Kachok is located well inside the city next to a major shopping mall.

Gutberlet et al. 107