The Public Waste Problem
Communities across the Laikipia region of northern Kenya are beginning to leverage environmental and cultural resources to promote local economic development and poverty reduction. Although major progress has been made in recent years, the long-term viability of such enterprises is directly threatened by litter and public waste. The proliferation of shops and markets in small towns across the region has generated a mass of plastic and organic waste. Because no towns in the area have a functioning waste removal and disposal system, waste materials have accumulated in public spaces, diminishing the natural beauty of the area and posing substantial health risks to humans, livestock, and wildlife.
The public waste problem in Kenyan towns is part of the larger problem of environmental degradation that rural and urban communities across the country are facing; pollution, resource depletion, and desertification all threaten the long-term viability of local development projects across the country.
Although the negative environmental, public health, and economic consequences of trash and litter in Kenyan towns are frequently acknowledged in public discourse, there have been few successful, large scale efforts by either the government or civil society to directly address this problem. Furthermore, poverty and violence have hindered grassroots initiatives to address the problem of public waste. Individuals have been reluctant to mobilize to collect and dispose of trash when they lack basic necessities such as food, drinking water, and adequate shelter or when they fear violent attacks and theft. Any effort to address problems related to public waste must also address the larger problems of poverty and insecurity in Kenya in order to be sustainable in the long-run.
SAFI Solutions
SAFI stands for Sanitation Activities Fostering Infrastructure; the word also means clean in Swahili.
This name captures the essence of the project- linking waste management to sustainable community development and poverty reduction. Although the SAFI Project is focused on alleviating the problem of public waste in small towns and villages, the larger aim is to use resources generated through trash disposal and recycling projects to support larger local infrastructure and poverty reduction initiatives.
SAFI Project Mission and Objectives
Mission
Develop and implement a model for linking waste management to poverty relief and eradication in small towns and villages in rural Kenya.
Objectives
- Create a network of 60 anti-littering and community-based recycling programs in small towns across the Laikipia region of Kenya
- Mobilize income from recycling initiatives for other other community projects and for loans for local businesses
- Develop and utilize a curriculum for community education regarding waste management, natural resource use, and conservation
- Evaluate program designs and institutional arrangements to understand the most effective ways of organizing and implementing community projects
- Share results of program evaluation with communities to help direct future SAFI Project initiatives and other community project
Project Phases
The SAFI project has been working in communities throughout three districts in northern Kenya (Laikipia North, Laikipia East, and Laikipia West) since May 2007. Since that time, we have completed two preliminary phases of the project. Phase One, which was undertaken from May 2007-October 2007, entailed assessing specific waste management needs and developing contacts with local leaders throughout the region. Phase Two lasted from October 2007 until May 2008 and entailed a pilot implementation of the SAFI Project program in 18 small towns. We are currently in the process of analyzing the results of this first wave of implementations and are starting Phase Three work, which entails developing local recycling initiatives and the social infrastructure necessary to manage revenues from these initiatives.
Partners
The first two phases of the SAFI Project have been made possible by the generous support of the following organizations.
Financial Support:
Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University
Logistical Support:
ILAMAIYO Youth Group, Laikipia North District
Il Ngwesi Community HIV/AIDS project, Laikipia North and East Districts
Laikipia Wildlife Forum