Waste Management and Disaster Risk Reduction: Community Practices, Stakeholder Perceptions, and Environmental Risk Governance in Rivers State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Waste management; disaster risk reduction; stakeholder perceptions; environmental governance; GIS; Port Harcourt; environmental riskAbstract
Poor waste management is increasingly recognized as an environmental governance and disaster-risk challenge in rapidly urbanizing cities, particularly where inadequate infrastructure, weak enforcement, and unsafe disposal practices interact. This study assessed waste-management practices, stakeholder perceptions, and environmental disaster-risk hotspots associated with poor waste management in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS)-based spatial analysis. Using the Taro Yamane formula, 400 questionnaires were administered, of which 377 were valid, representing a 94.25% response rate. Data were analysed using weighted mean, grand mean, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Pearson Chi-Square, and GIS-based buffer and overlay techniques. Results indicated generally inadequate waste-management practices, reflected in an overall grand mean of 2.22. Institutional waste-management practices were comparatively better than those reported for households and commercial centres. Respondents demonstrated strong awareness of waste-related disaster risks, with an overall perception mean of 3.55. Disease transmission, inadequate waste infrastructure, drainage blockage and flooding were among the most strongly perceived risks. GIS analysis showed that high- and medium-risk hotspots were concentrated mainly within densely populated areas and locations proximal to rivers, creeks and drainage networks. Inferential analysis revealed significant differences in waste-management practices among households, commercial centres and institutions (F = 84.62, p < 0.001), a significant positive relationship between stakeholder perceptions and waste-related disaster-risk assessments (r = 0.768, p < 0.001), and a significant association between poor waste-management practices and flooding, pollution and fire hazards (χ² = 185.37, df = 18, p < 0.001). The study concludes that waste management should be integrated into urban disaster-risk reduction and environmental governance through improved collection infrastructure, source segregation, regulatory enforcement, community participation, drainage protection and GIS-informed planning.
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