Figure 4-17 – Gender and social inclusion considerations

Figure 4-17 – Gender and social inclusion considerations

Diagnostic

Lack of regular waste collection services Lack of generalised knowledge about waste management and separation at source Adult and young men dominate the transport sector in Wote, as boda boda (motorcycle taxi) or truck drivers There are several issues reported in terms of road safety, particularly a ecting children, the elderly, PWD and other vulnerable groups

Municipal Solid Waste VC

Scheduled Collection

Social Inclusion Considerations

This will allow for a more reliable service and represents new job opportunities, particularly for adult and young men who already work in the sector. However, there is a need to provide trainings on road safety and on how to handle waste properly to avoid dropping it on the way from households to the collection point, which negatively a ects local communities. Consider developing a certification system for transport operators. It is important to complement these measures with workshops, and sensitisation and education campaigns on how to generate awareness about the importance of source segregation and appropriate solid waste disposal. These workshops should be targeted at households, schools and institutional stakeholders (e.g. hospitals). For this action, liaise with local communities and NGOs. At a household level, women and youth have an important role in terms of sorting and re-using household organic waste (e.g. feeding livestock and producing compost) Households sometimes burn waste close to their homes which exposes them to health issues associated with fumes There are people working in the informal waste sector, mainly as waste pickers. While these groups have specialised knowledge of collecting and sorting waste, they don’t often have adequate tools or equipment (and thus face several health and safety risks) • This VC represents several opportunities for employment generation (physical and non-physical jobs) within the processing plant. It is possible to infer that the main barriers for participation are related to lack of knowledge and skills, as well as lack of accessible infrastructure.

Sorting

This link represents several opportunities for SIGs inclusion. However, it would be important to tackle discrimination and harmful social norms (e.g. women’s time poverty, genderbased violence, etc.) through awareness campaigns at a community and regional level that include SIGs and their parents, spouses and/or caregivers. Involve actors (and their organisations) who already engage in this activity as informal waste pickers or within their households. Encourage this association. Workers should receive training in health and safety, safe working methods, and receive the adequate PPE.

Processing (and back-o ce)

There are several employment opportunities for youths, PWD and women. These not only involve physical jobs, but also back-o ce activities such as managing operations and logistics. Ensure workplaces adopt principles of universal design and respect quotas for PWD inclusion. Provide mothers rooms at processing factories, childcare arrangements, or link women to community day-care facilities. Tackle discrimination and harmful social norms through awareness campaigns at a community and regional level that include SIGs, and their parents, spouses, and/or caregivers. FGDs have indicated that SIGS are often engaged in sales or own small-scale businesses (MSMEs) While this activity o ers a flexible schedule, not everyone can engage in sales due to lack of skills (e.g. financial literacy, business skills) and restricted mobility (either due to physical impairments or due to social norms). SIGS often face barriers accessing markets due to poor roads, costly transport, or infrastructure that isn’t accessible to them. SIGS don’t often own land, impacting their access to finance. Not many funds without collateral reqs. Youths are techno-savvy and could engage in sales using ICT based markets

Sales & Dispatch

Provide accessible and inclusive infrastructure and services (i.e. marketplaces/road/transport etc.) O er trainings on soft skills that are available and accessible to SIGs, people with low literacy levels and other vulnerable groups. Develop inclusive financing options for SIGs and low-income groups. Promote SIGs and their participation in existing cooperatives. Develop sensitisation sessions that could progressively contribute to integrating SIGs into leadership positions. Encourage the use of digital markets and mobile banking.

Case Study 4-20

Scientist uses mangoes to produce biogas51

Every year, in Burkina Faso 300,000 tons of mangoes are processed with wastes often dumped causing sanitation problems, as it decomposes.

A student at Joseph Kizerbo University has developed a technique to produce biogas from the mango waste; preventing pollution and turning the waste into a resource.

The mango waste is placed in an aerobic digester which produces biogas. The process takes an average of 20 days, with each kilogram of mangoes producing 0.061 m³ of biogas every 24 hours.

This biogas can then be used to replace butane gas.

51 https://www.afrik21.africa/en/burkina-faso-scientist-uses-mangoes-to-producebiogas

Case Study 4-21

Taka Taka Solutions52

Taka Taka Solutions provides waste management services through collection, sorting, recycling and composting across the Nairobi Metropolitan Area (Nairobi, Machakos, Kajiado and Kiambu). They provide waste management services to a variety of waste producers including residential, offices, restaurants, schools, shopping malls, factories and hospitals.

They collect and manage 60 tonnes of waste per day across their sites, which include:

> Three sorting sites: > One composting plant; > Two plastic recycling plants; > One incinerator; and > Three buy-back centres.

At these facilities Taka Taka Solutions sorts through more than 40 different waste fractions using conveyor belts and other machinery as well as hand sorting.

As a result of this Taka Taka Solutions recycles 95% of the waste that they manage.

52 Taka Taka Solutions, Home page (2022). Available at: https://takatakasolutions. com/, (Accessed: 01/03/2022).

Case Study 4-22

Inclusive waste management value chains53

It is estimated that around 2% of the urban population in middle-income and low-income countries works in the informal sector. An important part of this percentage is represented by the work of waste pickers, who work in the informal sector collecting and sorting waste.

Thus, adding value to waste becomes an important source of livelihood and an opportunity for economic survival. Moreover, they become important actors for environmental protection, for example, through the support of formal collection processing, which in turn contributes to boosting recycling rates.

53 SEED, Creating inclusive value chains in plastic waste management is paramount for a green economy (2015). Available at: https://www.seed.uno/articles/blog/ creating-inclusive-value-chains-in-plastic-waste-management-is-paramount-for-agreen-economy, (Accessed: 28/02/2022). Membership-based organisations become key to support these workers’ role and to better negotiate with governments to develop more progressive regulations. In South Africa, for example, these types of organisations have supported informal waste pickers’ formalisation and created further employment opportunities for them (which consequently provides safety equipment, protective clothes, and shelter). Waste pickers’ inclusion in waste management can also contribute to better management of landfill sites.

In Colombia, companies have been working directly with waste pickers to obtain higher recycling rates. This means a more stable income for them and enhanced access to health and safety measures. DISECLAR, a Colombian initiative, works with waste picker groups (being 45% of them single mothers) and provides them training and skills development at collection centres. They also develop community talks to encourage recycling at home.

4.4.3 Anchor Projects

4.4.3.1. Project 8: Wote Jua-Kali Market Improvement

Project Overview

Wote Town has always acted as a focal point within the County as the County Headquarters and a main market town. It thrives on its market economy and other key trades such as metal works and carpentry. As per the vision for the town, its development priorities include well-planned integrated development, inclusive, sustainable spaces, and upgrade of infrastructure provision.

The development concept responds to the vision and proposes key ideas that form part of the development framework for the town. They include climate resilient rural & urban development, strengthen Wote as a central node for distribution and make Wote an attractive town for future investors and residents. To fulfil this vision, the urban development policies adopt a polycentric approach whereby multiple centres across the county are elevated and qualified in a bid to distribute wealth and enable development opportunities in rural areas.

Wote Town lies 50-60km off the key A8 (A109) Northern Corridor that connects Nairobi and Mombasa. Its remote location, places Wote in a less competitive position compared to the towns along this corridor such as Emali and Machakos.

Key challenges in Wote town include land availability, housing, quality and retail infrastructure (i.e.: markets) and leisure opportunities. This is reflected in the urban dynamics observed on site and highlighted by local stakeholders during consultation stage.

Wote Town’s potential competition with Machakos or emerging towns along the Northern Corridor, calls for an alternative approach where a more diversified economic base serving the surrounding hinterland will help the town establishing itself as the key anchor node in the polycentric regional network of the County. With the objective of establishing Wote Town as a key shared service centre of the County network, several urban infrastructure improvements can be implemented. A combination of newly proposed Agriculture aggregation centre, clustering of selected VCs across the county, a renovated Jua Kali market and a modern CBD bus station, will all help in sparking critical mass and uplift the services quality of Wote.

Jua-Kali marketplace-making

In the retail sector, a major challenge was identified in the Jua-Kali Market (Timber and Clothes Market) current physical structure and operations. The improvements proposed to the market will address such challenges (i.e.: poor physical permeability, visual links, lack of civic space) and provide a base for some of these market activities to converge, expand and benefit the wider population.

The Jua-Kali Market, adjacent to the Makueni County Referral Hospital, is a self-contained compounded site spreading over approximately 7,000 sqm. It accommodates mainly clothes retailers and wood workers within the same space, two activities which are, to some extent, at odds. The compound is enclosed by a perimeter wall (not uncommon for such uses), which trade-off safety for the businesses with urban integration and opportunity for more footfall. The facility hosts a clothes market (west) and a carpentry workshop (to the east). There are small retail shops and other similar uses on site as well. The eastern sheds are of recent construction and appear in good condition. The high perimeter wall around the market pushes hawkers and other day traders along the footpath making the street congested and unsafe for pedestrians. Despite such rich variety of uses, the Jua-Kali activities remain severed from the town and hidden behind walls. According to stakeholders, such an arrangement is one of the major issues, it causes a lack of visibility for businesses from the street, poor accessibility to the site, and, to a degree, there is a conflict of incompatible uses. Passers-by can easily miss the market, and this reduces potential footfall and the trade that comes along with it. Development strategy

There is an opportunity to consider the redevelopment of the site with more complementary and appropriate uses, maximising the available space for commerce, increasing permeability through the site, and providing greater visibility for businesses along the street frontage and beyond. This can be further supported by providing a new bus stop on site and elevating the market to a new civic node comprising of high-quality public realm.

The proposals discussed with local stakeholders and operators, explore the opportunity to provide the community with a new town destination to shop, eat, and relax in one location. The scheme, arranged over 2/3 storey, opens-up the site perimeter by doing away with walls and establishing a series of more permeable and easier to access spaces. Thanks to this, street-side shops benefit from open frontages, whilst the newly created under-croft areas – now made publicly accessible, can accommodate hawkers and day traders. Perhaps this arrangement offers an opportunity to manage and regulate such trade.

The footpaths are therefore freed and safer to walk on which, in-turn, set the conditions for a more attractive place to go and be in, which is typically conducive to increased footfall and potentially more business opportunities.

The Jua-Kali market is only 5 min walk from the Wote Bus Park and the site regeneration proposal is part of the wider integrated strategy for the town centre, in particular the CBD area acts as an important urban node in the polycentric development approach along the Wote-Makindu Road.