Next Article in Journal
How Much Does Economic Growth Contribute to Child Stunting Reductions?
Next Article in Special Issue
Public Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes: New Evidence from Ghana
Previous Article in Journal
On the Samaritan’s Dilemma, Foreign Aid, and Freedom
Previous Article in Special Issue
Democracy and Inter-Regional Trade Enhancement in Sub-Saharan Africa: Gravity Model
 
 
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Willingness to Pay for Improved Household Solid Waste Collection in Blantyre, Malawi

1
University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Chichiri 3, Blantyre, Malawi
2
Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Economies 2018, 6(4), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6040054
Submission received: 27 April 2018 / Revised: 19 September 2018 / Accepted: 20 September 2018 / Published: 9 October 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Development in Africa)

Abstract

Insufficient staff, inappropriate collection vehicles, limited operating budgets and growing, hard to reach populations mean that solid waste management remains limited in most developing countries; Malawi is no exception. We estimated the willingness to pay (WTP) for two hypothetical solid waste collection services. Additionally, we tested the impact of the WTP question positioning relative to environmental perceptions on respondents’ WTP. The first scenario involved a five minute walk to a disposal facility; the second scenario involved a 30 min walk. Additionally, the order of the question was randomized within the questionnaire. A WTP value of K1780 was found for the five minute walk scenario when the question was placed first, and K2138 when placed after revealing the respondent’s perceptions on the environment. In the 30 min walk scenario, WTP was K945 when placed first and K1139 when placed after revealing the respondent’s perceptions on the environment. The estimated values indicate that there is both a willingness to pay for solid waste services and that there are at least two options that would be acceptable to the community; a pilot scale implementation would be required to validate the hypothetical values, especially given the dependency on problem framing. Community financing should be considered as a sustainable approach to solid waste management in underserved areas.
Keywords: solid waste; Malawi; WTP; dichotomous choice; Africa; service delivery solid waste; Malawi; WTP; dichotomous choice; Africa; service delivery

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Ndau, H.; Tilley, E. Willingness to Pay for Improved Household Solid Waste Collection in Blantyre, Malawi. Economies 2018, 6, 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6040054

AMA Style

Ndau H, Tilley E. Willingness to Pay for Improved Household Solid Waste Collection in Blantyre, Malawi. Economies. 2018; 6(4):54. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6040054

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ndau, Hanke, and Elizabeth Tilley. 2018. "Willingness to Pay for Improved Household Solid Waste Collection in Blantyre, Malawi" Economies 6, no. 4: 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6040054

APA Style

Ndau, H., & Tilley, E. (2018). Willingness to Pay for Improved Household Solid Waste Collection in Blantyre, Malawi. Economies, 6(4), 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies6040054

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop