Determinants of households’ participation in environmental sanitation in Liberia

Abstract

In many developing nations of the world, unsuitable environmental sanitation conditions have contributed to public health menace. In major cities in Liberia, poor waste management has become part of the regular environmental ecosystem. This study surveyed the sanitary condition of a sampled urban community in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. It employed a cross sectional survey of Duport Road Community. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 383 households in the community. A well-structured questionnaire was used for collection of necessary household data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regressions. The study observed that noxious practices such as open defecation and irregular participation in environmental sanitation were predominant in the sampled community. The study showed that household head age (28-37 years) had increasing and significant effect on frequency of clearing the surrounding bushes, but had decreasing and significant effect on frequency of cleaning the drainage. Having tertiary level of education had increasing and significant effects on cleaning of surrounding bushes and drainage. Also, smaller size households had increasing and significant effect on clearing the surrounding bushes, while larger size households had and significant effect on same.