Abstract
Urban open-air markets are indispensable institutions in the global South. Yet they are most often confronted with formidable environmental problems such as improper solid waste management (SWM). Accordingly, when research is initiated into the complex world of urban market environmental management (UMEM), the focus tends to be on either SWM technological interventions or the performances of formal or informal SWM actors. Whereas city authorities have desired to understand how to regulate the burgeoning number of informal SWM actors, research priorities have been to advocate for the formalisation and integration of informal systems of SWM with formal systems. Consequently, attention is rarely paid to informal actors’ perceptions of SWM integration and formalisation pathways. This paper presents insights into how the integration of informal SWM actors is being approached in Ghana, and how this process is being experienced by the informal actors in Accra’s open-air markets. The informal actors’ critiques generally related to the formalisation processes, enforcement of legitimate expectations, and limited SWM infrastructure. The biggest obstacle related to the narrow conception of integration as formalisation through public and private sector, as this was perceived by informal SWM workers as an exclusionary, exploitative, and restrictive measure.
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Source: Sheburah Essien (2021)
Source: Sheburah Essien (2021)
Source: Sheburah Essien (2021)
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank all the research participants for providing valuable information and the Directors of Waste Management Departments at the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly (LaNMMA) and Okaikoi South Sub-Metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for providing the needed assistance and venues to organise participatory workshops.
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The research for this article was funded by the Graduate School of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
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All authors contributed to the study conception. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Rosina Sheburah Essien under the supervision of Manfred Spocter. The draft manuscript was written by Rosina Sheburah Essien. Manfred Spocter commented and reviewed all versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Sheburah Essien, R., Spocter, M. Overcoming Obstacles to the Integration of Informal Actors in Accra’s Open-Air Marketplaces. Urban Forum 34, 79–97 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-022-09466-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-022-09466-8