TRADE AND RECYCLING OF URBAN INORGANIC SOLID WASTE IN NAIROBI 191
of family in waste work, dealers and itinerant byers frequently enlist family labour in
sorting, packing and cleaning. Materials collected by itinerant byers are sometimes
taken home and family labour enlisted in these processes. Dealers use unpaid family
labour for the transportation of waste and the manning of premises in exchange for
pseudo-apprenticeship. Extended family members are also provided with accommo-
dation and subsistence in exchange for involvement and labour contributions to the
dealership. Although indicative of longer hours of involvement in work especially for
itinerant byers, the use of unpaid family labour results in lower operational costs and
thus higher incomes.
Despite the relatively higher entrepreneurial capacity, dealers do not have any advan-
taging skills in waste trading. However, they are longer-time residents in the city and
have more experience in waste-related work. Although only 11 (30 percent) of those
interviewed had been involved in waste picking or itinerant purchasing before engaging
in waste trade, it is still a notable finding especially with respect to the formation of
relevant trade relationships. An experienced dealer is better placed to handle the some-
times tranquillized, rowdy and hostile waste pickers and to broker the trade deals with
large-scale waste recyclers Skills in marketing and in the formation of networks are
necessary for the maximisation of earnings, business survival and stability. Dealers
possess knowledge on the types and demand of differentiated waste materials, the avail-
able outlets, their requirements and methods of short-cutting some of the processes in
order to gain some advantage.
Although most of the actors express their dissatisfaction with the activities they are
engaged in, their capacity to move from one level to the next or to a more ‘pleasant’
activity seems to be low. There is no evidence of mobility from one level to another
at this lower income- end of the commodity chain with the exception of the few noted
before. Hopes or ambitions for formal sector employment are now even more illu-
sionary given the on-going retrenchment drive^31. Similarly, joining ‘a better kind of
business’ requires the accumulation of capital, which most actors (with the exception
of dealers) are presently incapable of. The need to ‘change to other types of work’ is
articulated across the whole spectrum of activities but with knowledge and evidence
of the absence of affordable, legal and socially accepted options. Minimal planning or
strategizing towards this is observed, except amongst dealers.
For waste pickers operating at the lowest income-level, theirs is to fulfil ‘a pressing
demand of daily life’, i.e. survival (Gutkind 1967: 37). In targeting more highly
re-saleable waste itinerant byers fair slightly better in terms of income. Dealers are the
focal point of this sub-group of activities. Theirs is entrepreneurial, notwithstanding
their use of unpaid family labour and dependence on higher-level actors in the chain.
- Formal private sector employment in Kenya has always been much smaller. Until recently public sec-
tor was the largest provider of formal employment.