76 MOSES M. IKIARA, ANNE M. KARANJA AND THEO C. DAVIES
Despite meaningful localised performances, the community in general plays a small
waste management role because it is not integrated into the solid waste management
system. The World Bank (2000) identifies four barriers to such integration that apply
to the Nairobi case: a psychological barrier associated with the expectation that the
local government should supply all services, an economic barrier related to the cost of
laying community infrastructure, a technical barrier that hampers initiation of
self-help activities, and a sociological barrier in the form of lack of trust.
The role that CBOs can play in solid waste collection and other solid waste manage-
ment domains is limited by lack of official/political support, lack of premises to
operate from, lack of protective equipment, lack of finances and capital, low earnings
from waste trade, lack of stable markets (therefore price fluctuations) for recycled
products and stiff competition from emerging modern waste dealers, lack of transport,
lack of local “rootedness” in terms of financial sourcing and political support, and
weak leadership (Kajese, 1991; Kibwage, 1996; JICA, 1998; Mulei and Bokea, 1999;
and Kwach and Antoine, 2000). Policies on community-based solid waste collection,
in addition, have been lacking although the situation is changing. The current objec-
tive of the Government is to develop partnerships in environmental management with
stakeholders, including promotion of environmental NGOs and CBOs (Republic of
Kenya, 2000).
NGOs and international organisations
The involvement of NGOs and external actors in Nairobi’s solid waste collection
system takes the form of support to CBOs, with training, marketing and provision of
tools and equipment being the main forms of assistance. More than half of the CBOs
interviewed had been sponsored or facilitated by local and international NGOs and
such United Nations agencies like the UNFPA and UNCHS (Habitat). The NGOs
cited by the majority of the CBOs and small-scale recycling and reuse enterprises are
the Foundation for Sustainable Development in Africa (FSDA), the Uvumbuzi Club
and the Undugu Society of Kenya. Of the 15 community based solid waste manage-
ment groups identified by JICA (1998), 11 were supported by the FSDA. The role of
foreign donors is evident not only from their direct involvement in waste management
initiatives, but also from the fact that most NGOs working in Kenya are dependent on
external funding (King, 1996). UNCHS, in particular, has keenly assisted Mukuru
Recycling Project, one of Nairobi’s largest CBO complexes.
Residential associations (RAs)
Neighbourhood or residential associations have emerged in many middle and
high-income residential areas, stimulated by the success of the pioneering Karen and
Langata District Association (Karengata). Karengata, formed in 1940, successfully
stopped, through Court, the NCC from collecting service charge from its members
before improvement of the quality and frequency of the solid waste collection service
and other municipal services. The Nairobi Central Business District Association