1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
The problems of solid waste management in Nigerian cities have resulted from rapid increase in urban populations, rapid industrialization and changing lifestyle. Many urban areas also generate solid wastes beyond what they can manage, and this is closely associated with economic profiles and background. In many places, municipalities spend 20-50% of their available re-current budget on solid waste management which normally generates marginal results. Yet, it is also common that 30-60% of all the urban solid wastes in developing countries are uncollected, and less than 50% of the population is served.
One of the critical areas that needs to be addressed when reviewing the impact of solid waste management is the gender issue. In all societies, women have a different role from that of men. As mothers and homemakers as well as educators, entrepreneurs and producers, women more than men, have to play multiple roles. The demands of these multiple roles in poorer countries place women, particularly the non-elite ones, at a special disadvantage (United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNDFW, 1998). This problem is huge considering the fact that women constitute 60% of the world's one billion poor and out of 1.3 billion people living in absolute poverty, over 70% are women.
Research according to Scheinberg et. al., (1998) has shown that across many cultures, women handle waste in their homes although the richer women delegate this task to servants.
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