COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS AND LAGOS WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY’s COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The continued presence of inappropriately managed municipal solid waste remains an environmental and social hazard confronting communities and government. Despite collaborative efforts of government agencies and communities, poor disposal and management of Municipal Solid Waste remains a menace to the bedrock of a hygienic community. Hence, this study assessed the collaborative efforts of Community Development Associations (CDAs) and the Lagos State waste Management Authority (LAWMA) in enhancing effective waste management in Lagos State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research was employed for this study. 3 research questions were raised and 1 hypothesis was tested using mean scores and regression analysis respectively. The research hypothesis was tested using Regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance. Multi stage sampling procedure, simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques used. The sample size for this study was 361 participants comprising of CDA members and LAWMA officials. A Self-structured questionnaire with reliability coefficient of r=0.772 was used. The study revealed among others that the collaboration between LAWMA and the CDAs has yielded a slightly moderate result in areas of awareness creation, joint- decision making and monitoring. However, more effort has to be put in the areas relating to compliance and enforcement through rewards and punishment. The study also found out that challenges such as bad road networks, poor attitude to community hygiene and lack of waste infrastructure still affect the waste management practices.