ASSESSMENT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF MENAHARIA KEBELE, WOLKITE TOWN

Abstract

Now a day, in all over the world proper managing of solid waste is becoming a serious problem of cities all over the world especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Wolkite town is one of developing countries which face the problem of solid waste .The volume of solid waste in the town is becoming increase and but the administration could not be able to adequately collect and dispose the waste. This study is conducted in Wolkite town, Meneharia kebele with the aim to assess and analyze solid waste management practice and Specifically to identify the cause of poor solid waste management and disposal practice, to examine the participation of the community and institution in solid waste management and disposal practice, to identify challenges of solid waste management and in the last to assess consequence of solid waste on human health and the environment in the study area. The study employed mixed research approach and a cross sectional descriptive research design. The researchers used data obtained from primary and secondary source of data, it has questionnaire and interview. Moreover, secondary source documents were also reviewed. A total of 358 household respondents were included from Meneharia kebele based on probability and non-probability sampling techniques. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data has been used as a supplement for the quantitative data. The study finds that the lack of awareness by the people about proper solid waste management system, different challenges and weak coordination among the stake holders poses problems on the management of system. Thus, the studies recommend that creating awareness of the people with the collaboration of other stake holders and building the institutional capacity are critical for its improvement