Data Underlying the Study on Willingness to Pay and Economic Feasibility for Waste Management in Cape Maclear, Malawi

Contributors
- Elena Abgottspon 0009-0008-5461-846X author
- Elizabeth Tilley 0000-0002-2095-9724 supervisor
- Jakub Tkaczuk 0000-0001-7997-9423 supervisor, developer, maintainer

Background

This repository contains data related to research into sustainable solid waste management in Cape Maclear, Malawi. The study aimed to develop a waste management system that not only protects public health and the environment, but also addresses the funding challenges associated with such initiative.

The data was collected during a two-month field stay in Cape Maclear in November and December 2023. The research used the tailored surveys to assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved waste collection and treatment among four key stakeholder groups - households, lodges, businesses, and tourists. By analyzing current practices and preferences, the study identified optimal payment modes and explored opportunities for value creation. The findings were used to develop recommendations for a sustainable business model that ensures operational independence while leveraging external resources for long-term infrastructure improvements.

This dataset and accompanying documentation provide a basis for further analysis and decision-making in the field of community-based waste management systems.

Both the raw and derived data in this repository are separated into four categories, the same as the stakeholder groups, and is presented in the .csv and .dta formats. The analysis is performed in Stata; therefore, the Stata .do files are available in the src directory and allow to replicate data analysis and derive the data to draw conclusions, presented in the thesis.

Conclusions from the thesis and the data from this repository are briefly presented below.

Households’ WTP was estimated using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, distinguishing between two waste separation scenarios. Lodges, businesses, and tourists were directly asked to provide a value for their WTP, and possible value creation opportunities were identified through semi-structured in-depth interviews with local recyclers. Households would be willing to pay an average of MWK 1507 (USD 0.90) per month if they did not have to separate their waste themselves; if they had to separate waste at source, the WTP would decrease to MWK 899 (USD 0.54) per month. Under the condition that households contribute to the waste management system, the lodges were willing to pay USD 13.00 per month for their own waste management and an additional USD 4.22 per month for public waste removal. The WTP of businesses was assumed to be zero due to an unrepresentative sample. Tourists were found to have an average WTP of USD 1.75 per day. Lodges and households would pay the fee on a monthly basis, while tourists would pay a tourist tax per night. In addition, the interviews revealed that local recyclers do not have the capacity to pay for their input materials, and this cannot be considered as an additional source of revenue for the waste management system. All cost scenarios can be covered by the estimated revenue streams from the stakeholder groups, with tourists showing the greatest potential. Nevertheless, it’s recommended to make the monthly operation of the system independent from external sources, but to use these sources for long-term investments and infrastructure improvements.

Overall, a sustainable business model has been identified and the next step should be focus on implementing the waste management system.

License

The data, published in this repository, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.