ISSN 2375-1266
African Journal of Environmental and Waste Management ISSN 2375-1266 Vol. 6 (7), pp. 001-007, July, 2019. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
From dependency to Interdependencies: The emergence of a socially rooted but commercial waste sector in Kampala City, Uganda
Buyana Kareem1* and Shuaib Lwasa2
1Department of Socio-Economic Sciences, Cavendish University, Uganda.
2Department of Geography, Makerere University, Uganda.
Accepted 10 April, 209
Abstract
Urban waste has traditionally remained for municipal councils to manage in several sub-Saharan cities such as Kampala. However, due to noticeable inefficiencies at municipal level, there is a manifest of low-income groups that take the initiative to extract and add value to materials from the waste stream, although higher-income groups are engaged in similar activities. This signifies the gradual shift from dependency on municipal councils to neighborhood interdependencies in the management of urban waste. To gain an in-depth understanding of this shift, we conducted purposive observations and twelve (12) focused-group interviews amongst selected respondents, in the neighborhood of Kasubi-Kawaala, Makerere II and Bwaise III parishes, located in the north western part of Kampala. The key finding was that waste-user roles, preferences, and the preceding generation and extraction processes are socially rooted in neighborhood cultural-orientations, and the underlying social mobility and commercial drivers. From the study, three (3) types of low-income commercial waste vendors were identified including, regular waste vendors, wholesale waste dealers, and home to home waste dealers. Unfortunately, these low-income waste vendors still have the least opportunity to negotiate with municipal authorities on scaling-up their commercial activities for a greater social impact.
Key words: Wastes, social rootedness, neighborhoods, commercial waste, Kampala City.