STUDY RESULTS: NAIROBI RESIDENTS RELATIONSHIP AND PERCEPTION OF WASTE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
By Christine M. Mahihu
January 27, 2013.
It is no secret we have a waste management issues in our beloved capital city. Management issues at the City Council, now the County Council, the institution constitutionally responsible for waste collection and disposal, has contributed greatly to the sorry state of waste management in the City. However, what role do we as Nairobi citizens play? The purpose of this study was to help understand people’s perception of waste and it’s management.
The study was conducted to gauge how well informed Nairobi residents are on matters of waste management and also their attitudes towards waste. It has become very common to see piles of trash all over the city and when we receive heavy rains, streets flood making them impassable and traffic a nightmare. During the rainy season last year, the brand new Thika highway flooded after a spate of heavy rains. Social media was awash with complaints towards the Chinese construction company that won the tender to build the highway. A few however, wondered if it was drivers and pedestrians habit of throwing trash on the road that was the cause
“In this case, we must acknowledge our own responsibility for our flooded roads and leave the Chinese out of it. We cannot live first-class lives without developing first-class habits!” (Atwoli, 2013)
It is events like these that led us to carry out a mini study on Nairobi citizen’s perceptions of waste.
How many of us take responsibility for the waste suffocating our city? If not ourselves, who then do we point fingers at? According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), only 40% of total generated waste in urban centers reaches designated dumping areas. More than half (61%) of waste is generated by residents while 20% is from industries; meaning we the residents are responsible for the bulk of waste generated in Nairobi. It is estimated that by 2020, the waste generated in Nairobi daily will be approximately 5400 tones from the current 2,500 to 3,000 tons per day. If not dealt with adequately now, the issue is bound to get worse in the future.
Summary of Results
From the findings it was clear the sampled city residents are fairly knowledgeable on issues related to waste management, however, less than 50% had knowledge on recycling of waste materials. There was little concern and or knowledge of where our waste goes among responders; only 36% indicated they knew where their waste ends up. Majority of the responders, regardless of their knowledge of where waste goes, said Dandora was the final destination. This is despite the fact it was declared full 13 years ago and is a health and environmental hazard, especially to those who live around it.
While most of our respondents agreed that everyone is responsible for waste generation, 88% placed waste management responsibility on the County Council, formerly City Council of Nairobi, and only a few took personal responsibility . Apart from blaming the whole system set up (public structures that deal with waste management), people also viewed culture and ignorance as a cause of Nairobi’s poor waste management. When it came to consequences of waste mismanagement, health was cited as the greatest concern among survey respondents as well as pollution and aesthetics. Perceptions of waste management differed slightly among age groups and economic class levels; older responders seemed more awareness while residents from low income areas took more responsibility.
Although this study was not fully representative, it gave a glimpse of how residents of Nairobi relate to waste. From the results, we recommend creating awareness on the waste disposal cycle and its benefits, especially among the youth. More encouragement of private sector and community based organizations to participate in waste management is also highly recommended. Exploring and expanding job creation opportunities in this field will go a long way in dealing with proper disposal and recycling of waste.
Education, especially in Primary schools, would also encourage participation in waste management so as to encourage early responsible behavior and active engagement with key players. We all need to be involved in the collection, disposal and recycling of our waste as this will also go a long way in keeping the institutions involved on their toes.
Regardless of all steps taken to deal with waste in the city, the biggest impact will be felt when residents take more responsibility in managing their own waste and demanding waste be disposed of in an effective, responsible way that protects the health of both the environment and the people that depend on it.
**Stay tuned for the full report to be published at a later date.
REPORT FROM FOOD SECURITY AND ADAPTATION CONFERENCE 2013 AT UNITED NATIONS GIGIRI.
By Phena Nyamulu.
August 26th, 2013.
SPEAKERS
● Mr. Mounkalia Goumanadakoye, the Regional Director and
Representative, UNEP Regional Office for Africa.
● Mr. Modibo Traore, FAO Representative to the AU and UNECA.
● Dr. Tony Simons, Director General World Agro forestry Centre
(ICRAF).
INTRODUCTION
Africa’s vulnerability to climate change impacts have been underscored by the severe droughts experienced in Sahel in 2012 and the Horn of Africa in 2011. Its population is expected to constitute about 23% of the global population by 2050 hence placing a huge demand on the government and states to provide opportunities for enough food and new dietary demands. The challenge therefore is charting new pathways to eliminate food insecurity, adapt to the changing climate and build sustainable systems. There is need therefore for a paradigm shift towards Sustainable development goals to replace the millennium development goals after 2015, which will serve multiple purposes and provide cross cutting benefits to Africa and the rest of the world.
In 2008, 1.3 million people in rural areas and 3.5 to 4 million people in Urban Areas were food insecure in Africa. Therefore, Achieving food security is unmanageable without climate smart practices that not only support farmers produce enough food to meet people’s needs but also preserve ecosystems from degradation. Approaches with the potential for informing and guiding policy and practices are imperative. One of these approaches is the Ecosystem Based Approaches which provide flexible, cost effective and broadly applicable alternatives for building robust food systems on less inputs, and reduces the impacts of climate change.
The question therefore should be what is the meaning of food security? And how can the emerging Ecosystem Based approaches in addressing food shortages be consolidated and scaled up? What scale of production is appropriate to do this? Below are some conference highlights and possible solutions going forward.
HIGHLIGHTS AND THE WAY FORWARD
● States and Governments should allocate budgets for food security in their strategic plans.
● There is need for monitoring and evaluating the allocated funds from Governments and donors.
● There is need for transboundary cooperation between countries to upscale Agribusiness in promoting businesses of large scale and small scale farmers.
● Organization of farmer into groups at grass root level to enhance self funded projects instead of depending for funds from donors.
● Upscale training among young people to make them understand that farming is a business and not a punishment.
● The gap between science and research should be addressed to create an understanding on what has been researched on and what needs to be done.
● In terms of funding, BOT, BOS, BOL mechanisms should be used to be able to access funding for projects.
● Form a resource management board to manage finance in Africa (Regional and continental)
● Mainstream EBA into the school curriculum starting from the elementary level to the University level.
● Integrate robust early warning systems in order to utilize the benefits of EBA.
● Pursue Sustainable Development Goals Agenda to mainstream policies and financial mechanisms.
● Apply mitigation practices in initiating resource management and sustainable farming practices in order to curb GHG emissions into the atmosphere.
● Incorporate the post-harvest methods into the EBA to achieve a food secure nation.
● Set up institutions that mainstream sustainable practices in mitigating and adapting to climate change.
● Take conferences on food security to the rural areas to educate farmers to educate them on EBA to apply on their farms.
● Use regional blocks to ensure donor funds trickle down to communities.
To learn more about the conference and its proceedings go to http: //www.foodsec.aaknet.org/
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| This diagram shows how the greenhouse effect works. Incoming solar radiation to the Earth equals 341 watts per square meter (Trenberth et al., 2009). Some of the solar radiation is reflected back from the Earth by clouds, the atmosphere, and the Earth's surface (102 watts per square meter). Some of the solar radiation passes through the atmosphere. About half of the solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's surface (161 watts per square meter). Solar radiation is converted to heat energy, causing the emission of longwave (infrared) radiation back to the atmosphere (396 watts per square meter). Some of the infrared radiation is absorbed an re-emitted by heat-trapping "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere. Outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth equals 239 watts per square meter. |
Global warming. It is a phrase that mostly makes sense to those who are alert on matters related to climate change. Or is it?
According to the Oxford Dictionary; "Global Warming is a gradual increase of the earth’s temperature due to greenhouse effect caused by the increase in carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons and other pollutants."
Just six years ago, the BBC predicted that more than a million arctic seas filled with ice will have melted away by the summer of 2013. And now? There is an extraordinary “reverse” of global warming that has led to a 60% rise in ice covered ocean. Global warming has “paused”.
Leaked documents show that governments which support and finance IPCC are demanding more than 1500 changes to the reports by scientists. They say its current draft does not properly explain the “pause”. Recent reports show that there is a 60% increase in the amount of ocean covered with ice compared to September last year, the equivalent of almost a million square miles. A leaked report to the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change has led some scientists to, claim that the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century that is for at least 15 years, Professor Anastasios Tsonis, of the University of Wisconsin said. The changing predictions led to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change holding a crisis meeting, and released a report on the situation in October 2013.
On the back of these dire warnings, billions of pounds were invested in green measures to combat agents of climate change such as greenhouse gas emissions. But the secret UN memo reveals that the ice has spread quickly following the smallest ever frozen surface area, this time last year.On a speculative note do you wonder about why August 2013 was cold and September 2013 was not as hot. Well, this explains it all. *raised eyebrows and side eye*
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According to Francesco Femia, co-founder of the Centre for Climate and Security, the Syrian conflict that has caught the attention of the world was preceded by the “worst long-term drought and most severe set of crop failures since agricultural civilisations began in the Fertile Crescent.”
The severe drought, combined with massive crop failures and poor agricultural policy on the part of the Assad regime, forced mass migrations from the countryside to cities that were already hard-pressed by refugees from Iraq, Femia argues. Military analysts overlooked these factors and argued that Syria would be immune to the civil unrest that had previously swept through authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes. …
“Climate change primarily manifests itself through water,” Femia added. “But it varies; different kinds of water, different ways. It can lead to more extreme weather events: either a drought or a major storm or an amount of rainfall that’s unusual and leads to flooding. It’s not just scarcity, it’s too much, too little and unpredictably.”
“Climate change is going to have security implications across the globe and conflict is just one area of concern,” Femia said.
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