Assessing public attitudes and behaviour to household waste management in Cameroon to drive strategy development: A Q methodological approach

Abstract

Household waste is an environmental and public health problem, especially for the large cities in Sub-Saharan African countries. While the improper management of household waste in Cameroon is linked to the systematic failure of policy makers and municipal authorities to identify the most sustainable ways of dealing with it in such a manner that is in line is with their socio-economic aspirations, the impact of public attitudes and behaviour has been neglected. It is in this context that this paper uses Q-methodology, a powerful methodology for identifying the different trends in behaviour in the management of household waste in Douala, Cameroon. © 2009 by the authors.