Households’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Solid Waste Management: The Case of Addis Ababa
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Date
2002-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The supply of solid waste management service has always been the major environmental problem
for the city of Addis Ababa. The introduction of service charges in the area of solid waste
management is getting much attention due to continuous financial shortage of the city
government to provide this service at an acceptable level. The pricing of this service is believed
to bring efficiency and sustainability in this area.
In line with this, this study was undertaken to examine the extent of solid waste management
problem and households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services. The
contingent valuation method (CVM) is used to analyze households’ willingness to pay. For this
430 randomly selected households were used. The probit and tobit models are used for the
empirical analysis.
The result shows that 33.98% of households in Addis Ababa are practicing illegal dumping, i.e.,
disposing solid waste in an open-space, street or in to rivers. Only 54.86% of households are
getting solid waste collection services. As a result the vast majority of households (91.02%) are
not satisfied with what the city government is doing in this area.
Most households (91.02%) are willing to cooperate with the government in financing solid waste
management in order to improve this condition. The mean monthly willingness to pay is Birr
7.07 per household. It shows variation arcos different income group areas with 2.96 Birr /month
for low, 7.76 Birr /Month for middle and 13.07 Birr /month for high income areas.
The tobit model shows income, time spent in the area, quantity of waste generated, responsibility
of solid waste management, education, house ownership, number of children and age to be
significant variables in explaining maximum willingness to pay. While in the probit model
income, age, number of children, time spent in the area, quantity of waste generated and
education have significant effect on willingness to pay.
The result of this study suggests there is a good chance of success if solid waste collection
service charges are introduced. And these charges should take into consideration both ability and
willingness to pay.
This research has also identified the need to do research on the feasibility (both technical and
economic) of other final disposal methods in addition to landfilling and the nature and volume of
solid waste in Addis Ababa
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Keywords
Solid waste Management Service, Major Environmental Problem