Solid Waste Management Knowledge Sources and Use across Residential Densities in Jos, Nigeria: A Case for Indigenous Knowledge

Abstract

This study identified and evaluated sources of solid waste management knowledge, its use and effectiveness in solid waste management as well as explore the relationship between the knowledge of respondents about the content of Environmental Education (EE) and their waste management practices. Primary and secondary data were used. The primary sources included key informant interviews and questionnaire survey that addressed the five stages of environmental literacy (awareness, knowledge, understanding, attitude and skills) as well as solid waste management within the framework of reduce, reuse and recycle. A total of 1,230 respondents were selected from three local government areas in the state capital. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in analyzing the data. The Pearson moment correlation was used in testing the relationship between the knowledge of respondents about the content of Environmental Education (EE) and their waste management practices. Findings showed a significant relationship between the knowledge of respondents about the content of Environmental Education (EE) and their waste management practices with P: 0.030 < 0.05. Half of the population acquired their knowledge of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) from indigenous sources with respondents from the medium density area relying more on indigenous sources (60.4%) against high and low density areas which recorded 52.6% and 46.5% respectively. The print and electronic media were least important in providing waste management knowledge to citizens in the high density area. The study concludes that indigenous knowledge (IK) is unique and valid enough to provide additional knowledge to the conventional sources of environmental knowledge capable of producing a citizenry knowledgeable enough to manage solid waste and preserve the quality of the environment.