The Miji Bora project aims at 1) understanding challenges facing Mombasa city and how they can be addressed, and 2) facilitating learning exchange among policy makers, urban researchers and other stakeholders through peer to peer exchange between the city of Mombasa and eThekwini municipality in Durban to facilitate knowledge transfer.
The Miji Bora project identified key issues of relevance to the County Government of Mombasa. Among the questions the project seeks to answer is to determine the gaps and opportunities in implementation that would facilitate futures thinking into city planning processes/prototyping /leapfrogging and to identify the smart interventions and sustainable approaches that could be applied to add value and constitute prototypes for implementation. The Miji bora project is currently undertaking situational assessment respond to these key questions.
Solid Waste Management
The Miji Bora project is currently conducting a situational analysis of the main issues identified for the city of Mombasa. Among the focus of the project is waste management. Through this focus, the project has contributed to the Mombasa County Solid Waste Bill which was recently passed by the county assembly. Through its situational assessment component, the project has started mapping out all dumping sites and collection points including legal and illegal points with corresponding characteristics to understand solid waste management challenges in the city and aid the county in waste management. In undertaking its activities, the Miji Bora project has adopted the geospatial technology to create updated landuse/landcover for the county, and model future scenarios.
The Solid Waste Management (SWM) is one of the important sub-Component being implemented by the situational assessment. This project is reviewing relevant consultancy, technical reports and scientific publications that highlight solid waste management situation in Mombasa. The objective of this review includes to make a contribution to Mombasa County SWM Bill, mapping out all dumping sites & collection points, and to identify characteristics & challenges in the county. The review has analyzed the main components of the Mombasa County Solid Waste Management Policy Draft, 2019 that Department of environment, solid waste management and climate change is the process of introducing. The policy seeks to introduce a modern approach to effective and sustainable waste management. the Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM). Key highlight of the policy are a Situation of Solid Waste Management (SWM), Solid Waste Characterisation- waste sources & Waste Streams, Waste management systems/processes- elements of the integrated solid waste management (ISWM) system, the waste management hierarchy indicates an order of preference for action to reduce and manage waste.
Some information gaps were identified during this review including the documentation of waste collection and transfer centers, dump site, analysis of waste recyclers based on the type of waste, and area of operation, quantify waste/monitor solid waste. The project acknowledges the bold step undertaken by the County Government Mombasa in decommissioning the Kibarani dumpsite and it will be commissioning a mini study as well as propose a monitoring framework for the decommissioning. The project has planned field activities to fill the information gaps identified.
Among the target areas will be flooding which remains one of the main challenges noted within the Mombasa county that is associated with poor urban planning and management, as well as poor storm water and solid waste management. Through the learning exchange activity, the project will facilitate and benefit from approaches implemented in Durban e.g. develop a framework for Community Ecosystem Based Adaptation (CEBA) and their adoption for Mombasa. More broadly, results from the project will then be shared with the county government to aid in planning.
Stakeholder Analysis
The Miji Bora project aims to facilitate learning, co-generation and co-creation of knowledge among policy makers, urban researchers and other stakeholders. Furthermore, the project will provide up to-date information on the status of city systems and chart pathways to a smart and sustainable coastal city of Mombasa.
A key component driving the project is stakeholder engagement. Stakeholders include local/affected communities and their formal and informal representatives, local or national government authorities, as well as different partner organizations. Stakeholders should be actively involved in various sector working groups to facilitate strategic planning. The Miji Bora Project has started to identify and actively engage the stakeholders according to their level of influence and interest in relation to the key issues of interest to the County Government of Mombasa and being addressed by the project. The project has developed a typology of stakeholders categorized under global, regional, national, local level partners and local citizens of Mombasa. The present desk top review is being undertaken to understand the attributes, interrelationships and interfaces among stakeholders by first mapping out relevant stakeholders for the City of Mombasa. The preliminary results from the analysis were presented during the virtual Miji Bora Mini Symposium. The key observations were made and the need to identify additional sources of information to complete the analyses was noted.
Stakeholder Engagement on Drivers of urban form in Mombasa City.
The project affirms that these issues are paramount when charting a pathway to a smart and sustainable coastal city of Mombasa. The project is framed around five key components namely; Situational analysis of key drivers of urban form, Peer-to-peer learning, Prototyping, Stakeholder engagement, and Institutional Repositioning. Stakeholder engagement is thus a key component driving the project.
Stakeholders in city settings may include local/affected communities and their formal and informal representatives, local or national government authorities, as well as different partner organizations. Stakeholders should be actively involved in addressing these issues right from planning through implementation of identified initiatives. A key factor in this matter would be the level of influence and interest of the stakeholder in relation to the particular issues of concern. The “stake” that each of different individuals or groups has in the key issues of concern vary. Multiple perspectives such as; contribution, legitimacy, influence, willingness to engage and necessity of involvement, are necessary points of consideration when mapping out stakeholders for engagement.
This workshop was therefore organized with the following objectives in mind, To;
- Identify the role, challenges and relationships of key stakeholders in addressing the main drivers of the urban form in Mombasa.
- Elaborate on and establish an appropriate and inclusive framework that will guide future engagement of stakeholders in the transitioning on Mombasa in to a smart and sustainable city.
Participants to the workshop were mainly duty bearers drawn from county departments responsible for functions related to the identified drivers of urban form and relevant stakeholders from national government agencies, professional organisations, non-state actors, and the private sector.
Mombasa SMART Sustainable City Platform
The developed platform to serve as mechanism and framework that will see enhancement of collaboration through dialogue, effective communication platform. This platform will promote closer collaboration between national and county government departments, civil society organisation, and community. That will see improved coordination and inclusion of all partners working to achieve a smart and sustainable city.