Abstract

This paper outlines the evolving social and environmental changes and challenges facing sub-Saharan countries with the example of the Tamale agglomeration in northern Ghana. It describes the fading traditional gender role of household members with regards to cleaning according to tradition. The fast-growing population generates more waste which is becoming very difficult for local administrators to deal with coupled with the fact that, there are new types of solid waste due to modernism. The challenge is mainly about the lack of good governance and the appropriate technology to deal with urban solid waste increase. City dwellers’ way of coping with increasing waste may be encouraging but its also paradoxical because recyclable waste retrieval is luring young criminals in these times of unemployment, poverty and hunger among the poorest. What feasible solutions are available for local administrators to align insalubrity, social harmony and waste valorisation?