Challenges of domestic solid waste management: a case study of Lobatse Botswana

Solid domestic waste management has been identified as one of the most serious urban neighborhood threats to environmental health in sub-Saharan Africa. The pertinent question to ask is whether this is a structural or behavioral problem or both. This investigation was therefore an attempt to: determine the adequacy of facilities to handle domestic waste; and to assess both qualitatively and quantitatively behavioral factors such as: knowledge; attitudes; and practices of stakeholders about challenges related to sustainable domestic solid waste management in Lobatse, a town in Botswana. Households were selected in order to represent high, medium, and low socio-economic groups in the town. Purposive sampling was used to choose key informants, consisting of personnel in charge of municipal solid waste management (MSW) in the Lobatse Town Council and Chairpersons of Village Development Committees. The severity index measure was used to capture the perception of communities on domestic waste management and the attitudes on household responsibility. Chi square was used to assess the relationship between the categorical variables. The major findings emerging from the study show a lack of conviction about the efficacy of available facilities among residents. Individuals are also non-committal about having to pay for the collection of their waste or having to be paid for participating in domestic waste management activities. Among the major recommendations is that public education campaigns should be developed to encourage sustainable domestic waste management behavior.