Solid Waste Management and Risks to Health in Urban Africa: A Study of Dakar City, Senegal

The report highlights a number of challenges and opportunities for solid waste management in Dakar

Abstract

This extensive report presents findings from APHRC’s research on solid waste management (SWM) in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.

The report highlights a number of challenges and opportunities for SWM in Dakar. Like many rapidly growing cities in Africa, SWM in Dakar is inadequate and inefficient. The study findings identified challenges in SWM began at the household level spilling over into the neighbourhoods. Households were not equipped to properly store their waste leading to the proliferation of uncontrolled dumping in the streets, yards, abandoned houses or illegal dumpsites.

The study also revealed challenges at the government/policy level. Lack of clear delineation between national and municipal responsibilities, ineffective planning as well as constrained financial resources have affected the management of huge quantities of solid waste generated by households in the city. The study identified a clear need for deliberate interventions at policy and community levels to address the problem of poor SWM in the city.

There is a 4 page factsheet based on the report.

This is an output from the Urban Africa: Risk Knowledge (Urban ARK) programme

Citation

African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC). 2017. Solid Waste Management and Risks to Health in Urban Africa: A Study of Dakar City, Senegal, Urban ARK Research Report.

Solid Waste Management and Risks to Health in Urban Africa: A Study of Dakar City, Senegal

Practices and Perceptions around Solid Waste Management in Dakar: Factsheet

Published 30 September 2017