Waste to Wealth: Can improving solid waste management in emerging countries reduce poverty, create employment opportunities and address development goals?

Historically, bilateral donors and multi-lateral development banks have provided relatively limited attention and funding to solid waste management issues in a development context. However, this situation is changing with there being a growing consensus that improving solid waste management conditions can address a wide range of development issues (for example, addressing the health impacts associated with open dumping of wastes and reducing flooding risks, as well as generating important benefits in the form of livelihoods and resource conservation, and serving as a proxy for good governance). This paper considers the achievements of Living Earth Foundation’s Waste to Wealth programme, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the European Union and Comic Relief. The programme, which operated from 2010 to 2015, was targeted at improving solid waste management and creating livelihood opportunities in urban slum areas in Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Kenya. The programme included: development of public private partnerships for waste management services in urban slums; skills training for urban entrepreneurs and micro and small enterprises; advocacy training and public campaigns to raise the awareness of slum dwellers’ rights to a clean environment; training for local authority officers; development of resources and toolkits; provision of small grants; and national conferences for key stakeholders. The paper reviews the programme’s activities and presents an initial assessment of its outcomes and impacts. It considers the potential for training and capacity building activities to stimulate livelihood opportunities and also discusses the effect that the programme has had in reducing the negative impacts of poor solid waste management by increasing collection of solid waste, promoting appropriate disposal and encouraging recycling and reuse of valuable resources. Preliminary data available from the evaluation of the programme indicates that it has generated some significant positive outcomes for target communities, creating employment opportunities and improving sanitary conditions by reducing open dumping. The programme has also provided a range of wider benefits including raising the awareness of SWM issues, increasing skills capacity in local government and enhancing links between key stakeholders both within, and between, target communities. Overall, the review suggests that interventions focused on the solid waste management sector have the potential to make strong, positive contributions to development goals.