The complexity of agency and solidarity in community development: Household plastic waste management in the city of Buea, Cameroon.

Abstract

The topic of this master thesis is Plastic waste management on community level. Plastic waste generation is a global issue that calls for concern and action on a local level as well as on national and global policy level. The study was aimed to explore household plastic waste management in Buea, Cameroon. It was conducted within Buea community. The research questions were as follows, How do households in Buea generate plastic waste?, What are the causes of poor disposal and challenges faced by households to manage plastic waste in Buea community? How does plastic waste affect the residents livelihood?, and lastly, What efforts have the municipal council put in place for a sustainable plastic waste management in the Buea?. To grasp the complex issue, the concept of community development approach was adopted and to understand how communities can work together to solve problems through solidarity and agency. Also, the theory of Environmentally Responsible Behaviour was employed to approach individual’s experiences and strategies in waste management and to understand how their attitudes and behaviour towards plastic waste disposal can affect the environment and community living. The study employed the qualitative research methodology in data collection and analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the social realities of 20 purposefully sampled interviewees. The respondents consisted of 18households and 2workers at the Buea council from the department of hygiene and sanitation. The study reveals that there is a lack of solidarity and no organised structures put in place to manage household plastic waste in Buea. Also, the inadequate provision of community dust bins and the inconsistent door to door collection of waste made people to adopt poor attitudes and behaviour as they end dump indiscriminately on the environment and even on prohibited site. In addition, poor and weak policies on plastic waste management and lack of public awareness also contributed to the poor attitudes and behaviour of plastic management towards their environment. Overall, the study shows the complexity and interlinkage between solidarity and agency in council and amongst community members.