Determinants of Households’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Solid Waste Management in Ethiopia: The Case Study of Jimma Town

In many developing countries solid waste management has become a serious challenge. Improper solid waste management has very high socio-economic and environmental costs that have not usually been critically considered by economic agents. Environmental quality value can usually be estimated from people’s willingness to pay to improve or to restore their environment. Hence, the main objective of this study is to find out the determinants of households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management in Ethiopia, a case study of Jimma Town. A total of 200 samples are randomly selected from four kebeles in Jimma town. The study used descriptive analysis, independent t-tests, correlation, cross tabulation and binary logistic regression. The result shows that the majority, which is 88.5 percent, of the respondents stated that they have a concern for environmental protection and safety. More than half of the respondents (56%) are not satisfied with the existing solid waste management system. Despite municipality’s and private collectors’ effort, solid wastes are left uncollected and found here and there in streets and communal areas. This implies that there is a desire for the improvement of solid waste management services in Jimma town. The very majority (83.5%) of the respondents are willing to pay for improved door-to-door waste collection service. The findings also revealed that households’ willingness to pay for improved solid waste management is significantly affected by income of the household, possession of house and amount of waste generated by households’ among other factors. Finally, the study recommends that entrepreneurs and innovators should be encouraged to develop improved schemes for waste collection and management. Regular support and monitoring should be given for the business enterprises and institutions engaged in solid waste management system. Keywords: Environment, Solid Waste Management, Willingness to Pay, Jimma Tow