Households’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Solid Waste Management Service in Sululta Town, Ethiopia
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Date
2020-10
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A.A.U
Abstract
Background: Waste is an unavoidable consequence of the consumption and production activities of a society; thus, proper handling of waste is becoming a serious problem of cities all over the world especially in developing countries where financial and technical scarcity is very serious. This study was undertaken to examine households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management services in Sululta town using data from a cross-sectional survey of 392 randomly selected households.
Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to answer the objective of the present study. The survey was conducted using a direct face-to-face interview method by employing the double-bounded followed by open-ended value elicitation format to estimate households’ mean willingness to pay. The probit and Tobit models were used to investigate the determinants of households WTP. The data management and analysis was undertaken using STATA version 14.1. A p-value of 5% was used to declare statistical significance.
Result: About 94 percent of the total respondents were willing to pay for improved solid waste management. The results of the probit model revealed that total monthly income of households, house ownership and households who lived in the area for shorter period have positive and significant effects on the household’s willingness to pay for the improved SWM service. Perceiving current situation of solid waste management as good and age of household head have negative and significant effects on the households’ WTP response for the improved SWM. In the Tobit model, total monthly income and households who lived in the area for shorter period have positive and significant effect on household’s maximum willingness to pay. However, being female is negatively and significantly affect MWTP for improved service. The mean WTP values obtained from open-ended and double-bounded value elicitation formats are about 59.2 ETB and 77.6 ETB per month for a household respectively.
Conclusion: This study recommended that the mean WTP can be used as a guide for the municipality to determine the economically acceptable fee. The local authorities should work hard on awareness creation for the residents about the impacts of poorly managed solid waste on the environment and human health through mass media and campaign. In order to create a clean and healthy environment in the town, both the local authorities and residents of the town should cooperate and take the responsibility of SWM.
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Keywords
Contingent valuation, Double-bounded, Sululta town, Improved solid waste management