An Investigation of Community Participation in Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management System in Lagatafo Lagadadhi Town, Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia
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Date
2020-06
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Abstract
The environmental and health impacts as well as economic opportunities presented by waste
management in the Lagatafo Lagadadhi town, one of the fastest and the emerging town in the
Oromia National Regional Stat of Ethiopia, is not comprehensively and systematically studied.
The purpose of this study is to fill this gap in the literature by investigating how solid waste is
being managed within the context of community participation in the study area. The study
employed a mixed method research using both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative
portion which is descriptive survey helps to describe the phenomenon under study, and the
qualitative data enriched the descriptions generated by and from the quantitative ones to
landmark the study. The quantitative data was collected through questionnaire from 384
households; whereas, the qualitative data was gathered using structured interview with 5 key
informants, one FGD which has 8 discussants, field observation at different times and various
documents. The study reveals that community participation is dismally poor in solid waste
management in a town with an average per capita solid waste generation rate of 0.41 kg/cap/day
at household level. Although the composition varied due to seasonal conditions, food and
biodegradable wastes comprised 76.5% of household wastes. The study shows that most of the
solid wastes (49.6%) were burned at the household level and at the dump site. The town’s solid
waste management budget, accounting about 11% of the municipality’s budget (less than half of
the average for low-income countries), is woefully inadequate, to cover all operational costs
related to Solid Waste Management. The improper management of the solid waste is adversely
affecting the residents of the town through water and air contamination, drainage blockages,
and the local economy. The study recommends that the improvement of solid waste management
through increased coverage and community awareness concerning the segregation of solid
waste in order to practice integrated solid waste management through community participation.
Finally, the researcher calls on the municipality to implement the Integrated Solid Waste
Management plan developed as part of this study.
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Keywords
community participation,, composting,, composition,, dump site,, generation rate, ., integrated solid waste management,, per capita