'Westernizing' solid waste management practices in Accra, Ghana - a case of 'negotiated waste collection'

Managing solid waste in Ghana remains a critical challenge. To date, attempts to remediate the problem using 'best practices' prototype from Western countries have yielded elusive responses in low-income communities where such models are incompatible with local development trajectories. While city authorities remain defiant to this policy mismatch, the environmental and health implications associated with the practice are mounting in urgency. Using Accra, the national economic and administrative hub, as a case study, we argue that waste policy designed to reduce unsanitary conditions can be counter-productive if it ignores context-specific complexities. Contrary to popular wisdom, this paper argues that there is no `one size fits all' answer for the quest for an efficient, effective, and affordable waste management system. Instead, each solution must be tailored to its specific social, cultural, and political context, with the direct involvement of service beneficiaries, and integrated with indigenously derived strategies. While not a cure-all 'solution,' the paper is optimistic that this kind of publicly engaged process can provide some understanding and create approaches for coping with waste management complexity.