Review of ILO support to small waste collection enterprises in Dar es Salaam

The City of Dar es Salaam had, for some years, experienced difficulty in collecting and disposing of the rapidly growing quantities of solid waste that were being generated each day. In the early 1990s this reached a crisis situation, and it was decided to engage small enterprises to collect solid waste, starting in the central business district. After an uncertain start, this system has grown and provided a regular and effective waste collection service to most of the city. Waste is collected by about 50 enterprises on a franchise basis - the service provider collecting fees from the customers, and many enterprises have contracts with a municipality for street sweeping. Opportunities are developing for increasing income from recycling. The International Labour Organisation has been supporting these enterprises, particularly with targeted training programmes.

Skat was invited by ILO to review progress that had been made, particularly in relation to the inputs from ILO, and to make recommendations for the future. This review established that the ILO had played a very important role, by means of its training programmes, but also in encouraging the enterprises to persevere thorough difficult times. Though improvements to the franchise arrangements are still needed, this model and experience are seen as very useful patterns for other cities to follow.