Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Development journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envdev Locating the role of urbanites in solid waste management in Ghana Patrick Brandful Cobbinah a,b,c , Michael Addaney d, ⁎ , Kwasi Osei Agyeman a a Department of Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana b Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa c Institute for Land Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, 2640 New South Wales, Australia d Quality Assurance and Planning Unit, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Municipal solid waste management Sanitation Urbanisation Ghana ABSTRACT Conventional wisdom views municipal solid waste management (MSWM) as the responsibility of government or city authorities in Ghana and many African countries with urbanites (i.e. urban residents) always calling on government to deliver them from the problem. Overwhelmed with the scale of the problem, city authorities frequently seek public-private partnerships with firms (both local and international) to address the problem. While city authorities’ efforts maybe praiseworthy, the problem seems intractable. Using a case study from Berekum municipality in Ghana, this paper demonstrates how a lack of attention to the role of urbanites in MSWM has contributed to poor state of solid waste management (SWM). It presents a situational analysis of MSWM, and perceptions and roles of urbanites in the MSWM. Using agency interviews and household surveys, findings indicate that the state of MSWM reflects the indescribable condition of filth across many African countries. Although household respondents expressed willingness to actively participate in MSWM (e.g., provision of logistics, supervision of SWM activities etc.), they are not involved by the government agencies who consider MSWM as government’s re- sponsibility. Unfortunately, the political economy of awarding SWM contracts to political party supporters and financiers have contributed to poor SWM. As a consequence, some households are gradually becoming apathetic to MSWM issues due to their non-involvement. Policy re- commendations to improve MSWM are proffered. 1. Introduction According to the statistical data provided by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division (UNDESA/PD), the proportion of African population living in urban areas is expected to rise from 40% in 2010 to over 57% in 2050 (UNDESA/PD, 2012). This unparalleled rise in the level of African urbanisation in the first half of the 21st century has provoked various questions, anxieties, and uneasiness about what this may possibly mean for the quality of life of Africa’s population, and for environmental health as a whole (Cobbinah et al., 2015). It has undoubtedly encouraged an inclination to consider the 21st century as ushering in an epoch of predominantly urban civilisation where urbanism is rapidly dominating ruralism (Cobbinah and Aboagye, 2017). Yet, the challenge of sustainable transformation becomes ever more complex. Already, urban Africa is having to confront the phenomenon of haphazard development, uncontrolled urban sprawl, widespread poor municipal solid waste management (MSWM), slum development and unemployment (Cobbinah et al., 2015). The rate of these challenges is increasing rapidly, the remarkable fact being the indescribable poor state of MSWM that define urban civilisation in Africa (Oteng-Ababio et al., 2013; United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP), 2000; World Bank, 2007). This paper however focuses on the issue of MSWM. This is because http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2017.06.004 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: pbcobbinah@knust.edu.gh (P.B. Cobbinah), michael.addaney@uenr.edu.gh (M. Addaney), Kwasi.1955@yahoo.co.uk (K.O. Agyeman). Environmental Development 24 (2017) 9–21 2211-4645/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T