Waste Management Practices of Rural Women in Enugu North Senatorial Zone, Enugu State

Abstract

This study determined waste management practices among rural women in Enugu North Senatorial Zone, Enugu State. The descriptive survey research design was adopted. All the rural women in the Zone numbering 22,261 constituted the population. Two-stage sampling technique was applied to draw a total of 396 rural women that were studied. A researcher-designed questionnaire based on literature review titled “waste management practices questionnaire (WMPQ)” with a reliability index of 0.81 was used for data collection. Frequencies and percentages were used to answer the research questions while chi-square statistics was adopted in testing the null hypothesis. The results were deemed statistically significant at p≤.05. The findings indicated that waste management practices among rural women in Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State were appropriate (71.0%). Also, the waste management practices among rural women with non-formal education (71.3%), primary education (72.6%), secondary education (74.4%), and tertiary education (66.7%) were appropriate. Statistically, no significant difference was observed on the waste management practices among rural women based on level education (p>.05). Based on the findings of the study, the conclusion was drawn that waste management practices of rural women in Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State regardless of level of education, were appropriate. It was recommended among others that the educational institutions should emphasize on the need to educate young prospective mothers on health consequences of poor waste management practices. Such enlightenment would make help in reforming their practices of waste management in later life.