Make Our City Clean Again
In Côte d’Ivoire Returning Migrants Work Together to Tackle Waste
“I want to help improve the cleanliness of my city,” says Oumar, sitting proudly on his three-wheeled motorcycle. “In five years, Daloa will be the cleanest city in Côte d’Ivoire. Hopefully, we will be recognized internationally as the new Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city: The cleanest city in Africa!”
IOM beneficiary Oumar returned from Algeria in 2017. As part of his reintegration assistance package, Oumar decided to join the already-growing waste collecting team in Daloa, his hometown.
There were 199 workers — he was worker #200. There were also snickers, pitying looks and condescension from former neighbors and friends. Why was Oumar, who migrated abroad to better his future, back in his home town? And why was he picking through garbage?
“I do not condemn those who judged me when I took on this job upon my return. This is a pretty dirty activity, and some people here have tried to discourage me. But I have a goal and this goal is to succeed,” continues Omar.
In the framework of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration, IOM partnered with CARE International in Côte d’Ivoire to launch a EUR 300,000 community-based reintegration project focused on city cleaning and waste management and involving Ivorian returned migrants and community members, all jointly selected by IOM and CARE to support existing waste management structures. IOM also equipped the beneficiaries with tricycles, gloves, boots and many other items.
“We had noticed that during school holidays, students would collect garbage from households, but they would throw them in sewers. Given the size of the city and the limited means our city has, we cannot collect all the garbage by ourselves,” says the technical director in charge of environmental affairs at Daola municipality.
“So, when CARE and IOM approached us to support waste management in Daloa, we immediately accepted”, he adds.
With a population that has doubled in less than 30 years, Côte d’Ivoire’s 25 million inhabitants are facing critical waste disposal issues. The rapid urbanization of the country, the recent city planning and the growing population have put the, then, remote landfills in the middle of cities — and ever closer to already overcrowded urban areas.
Daloa, one of the largest cities in the country with over 300,000 inhabitants, is no exception to this worsening environmental and public health dilemma.
“Years ago, this dump was located on the outskirts of the city. Now it’s in the middle of Daloa,” says Tatiana Yéhiry, the director of “MEPRO — Ménages Propres” (Clean households in French), an NGO she started ten years ago to find solutions to the lack of waste management in Daloa. “The city has grown, and we need to raise awareness among the population: people cannot live among garbage. They have to get rid of it!”
“When I used to see all the rubbish, I didn’t want to stay here. Then I realized that I can help people live in a safer and cleaner environment. I can also make a business out of it. Ten years ago, we only had wheelbarrows to collect garbage, now we have dozens of tricycles,” she adds.
“With our support, I have the impression that the returnees feel they are ‘back to normal’. I keep telling them that they will succeed in making a paradise of these dumps!” Tatiana concludes.
Tatiana also mentors returned migrants. Under this project, every returning Ivorian is accompanied by a mentor from their community whose role is to teach them new skills, to help them get back on their feet, and to provide them with emotional support. Everyday Tatiana goes to the field with herprotégés and motivates them. “Every morning, I meet them and tell that they have the power to transform garbage into ‘goldbage’ !,” she adds proudly.
Mrs. Tuo, 46, who was born in Daloa and still lives there, is well aware of the health issues associated to open-air waste disposal sites. Together with her 10 family members with whom she lives, they produce between five and ten kilos of waste daily.
“I know, this situation is not sustainable. We often get sick. For example, mosquitos come because of the stagnating waters and the garbage everybody drops. We often get malaria. Every time someone is sick, we have to go to the hospital and it costs us so much money,” she adds.
Up to now, there has been little research into links between waste management and health. But makeshift landfills are undoubtedly fraught with consequences on the population’s health: “Water pollution from leachate and runoff, air pollution from decomposition of organic matter to produce methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulfur, etc., emission of (…) arsenic, nickel, benzene, vinyl chloride, dioxins, (…and) animal vectors (flies, rats),” are indicated by Dr. Lesley Rushton as consequences of poor waste management (or lack thereof) and health hazards, in the British Medical Bulletin.
Dr. Rushton lists other concerns: “Reproductive effects associated with landfill sites have been extensively researched and include low birth weight (less than 2500 g), fetal and infant mortality, spontaneous abortion, and the occurrence of birth defects.”
Additionally, this expert on environmental causes of ill health concludes that population living around landfills reported health symptoms such as “respiratory symptoms, irritation of the skin, nose and eyes, gastrointestinal problems, fatigue, headaches, psychological problems, and allergies.”
The costs related to unhealthy living conditions are high for both governments and residents. For the time being, however, few Daola residents are availing themselves of private disposal services. They’re simply too costly.
Mrs. Tuo never really thought of doing anything about the garbage she and her family produce. “We live so close to the garbage dump that we did not think of paying for this waste collecting service yet. The kids go and throw them every day,” she says.
For Oumar’s business to be sustainable, a monthly fee ranging from CFA 1,000 for households to CFA 5,000 for restaurants is collected. Despite the benefits of the scheme, this fee can be high, considering the minimum salary in Côte d’Ivoire is just over 65,000CFA (USD 130).
“There are currently 98,000 households in Daloa. So far, 2,190 have subscribed”, says Losséni Coulibaly from CARE International in Côte d’Ivoire. Although just 2% of Daloa’s population have subscribed to this service, the project aims to reach 25% soon.
Given that a great part of the waste collected is organic, waste recycling may also prove a good opportunity for NGOs, the municipality and their beneficiaries: by generating additional jobs, and incomes, by providing additional services such as cleaning public places or building latrines.
“I have taught [returned migrants] that we can make anything out of rubbish: we can do organic charcoal, we can use plastic, we can do waste recovery and cycling, and earn money,” Tatania says, proudly.
Since the launch of the project in January 2019, IOM has ensured the monitoring and evaluation of the project’s activities monthly and has conducted sensitization activities on the need for waste management across the city.
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While waste management projects are key to local development, the involvement of returned migrants does not only bring them steady income, it also helps them reintegrate socially within their community.
Moreover, this project aims to have a long-term impact on the population and goes beyond an environmental initiative. The project has contributed to the creation of sustainable waste management solutions for one of the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire.
Daloa may not be the new Kigali yet but its population already has a motto: “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed!”
Oumar stays determined to stay in this business which doesn’t only bring him money but also pride: “These are my people! I want to help improve their health.”
While its primary focus in West and Central Africa is to protect vulnerable migrants along the migratory routes, IOM, as the UN Migration Agency, also helps governments to address root causes of irregular migration and hence aims to contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction.
This article was written by Florence Kim at IOM Regional Office for West and Central Africa.
