Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health: Applying participatory approaches to address health and sustainability issues in Kisumu, Homa Bay, and Nairobi., CUSSH

KENYA, 2023

Dr. Blessing Mberu

Identification

IDNO

DDI-KEN-APHRC-CUSSH-2018-V1.0

Title

Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health: Applying participatory approaches to address health and sustainability issues in Kisumu, Homa Bay, and Nairobi., CUSSH

Subtitle

CUSSH

Country

Name	Country code
KENYA	KEN

Abstract

Background: The negative environmental consequences of human activity represent an unprecedented threat to human health and well-being. Yet, to date no city has succeeded in implementing a pathway of development that is consistently and demonstrably on track to deliver long-term environment and health goals that fulfil both local needs and the increasingly urgent imperatives for planetary health. Opportunities to exploit potential co-benefits associated with policy and infrastructure investments are poorly understood and frequently missed. This project aims to bring evidence to bear on such health and environment connections, to understand the ancillary effects for health and thus to accelerate action on both local and global priorities

Objectives: The specific objectives were to:(1) Develop and apply models of impact on population health, health inequalities, and socio-economic and environmental parameters of alternative urban development pathways; (2) Use participatory (system dynamics) methods to undertake iterative engagements with stakeholders in Kisumu, Homa Bay, and Nairobi cities in order to test processes to help implement the transformative changes needed to meet local and global health and sustainability objectives;(3) Develop a programme of public engagement and capacity building to ensure wide participation in the development and use of research evidence by decision makers and other stakeholders to help ensure environmental and health objectives receive appropriate weight in public policy.

Methodology: This was a mixed methods study that combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative work applied modelling methods to enable comparison of the impact on population health and environmental objectives of alternative development strategies/interventions for cities. The core models was based on microsimulation methods. Qualitative approaches were applied in city engagements, where we proposed to use participatory system dynamics (PSD), which is a framework and process for gathering input from a wide range of actors in the public and private sectors.

Expected application of results: The results were used to inform discussion with local stakeholders and specifically to assess the degree to which they meet the trajectory of change required to meet long-term goals in each of the cities. We hope the work shall be applied beyond the target areas.

Version

Version Date

2025-11-28

Version Notes

N/A

Scope

Keywords

Keyword
Solid Waste Management, Kisumu,informal settlements, greenhouse gases, climate change, Pollution

Coverage

Geographic Coverage

Urban( Kisumu informal settlements-Nyalenda-A, Manyatta-B, Kaloleni, Manyatta-A, Migosi)

Unit of Analysis

Individual

Universe

Household heads, waste collection service providers, policymakers, county officials, waste pickers, community members, dump site managers, and market officials

Producers and sponsors

Authoring entity/Primary investigators

Agency Name	Affiliation
Dr. Blessing Mberu	APHRC

Producers

Name	Affiliation	Role
Dr. Kanyiva Muindi	APHRC	Project manager
Hellen Gitau	APHRC	Research Officer

Funding Agency/Sponsor

Name	Abbreviation	Role
Wellcome Trust	WT	Funder

Other Identifications/Acknowledgments

Name	Affiliation	Role
Evans Gichan	Kisumu County Government	Liaison officer
Ken Kóyoo	Kisumu County Government	director of environemnt
Bonface Ingumba	African Population and Health Research Center	Data Governance Officer

Sampling

Sampling Procedure

The study applied systematic random sampling to identify target households. We used a sampling frame from the 2019 census report for each informal settlement to get sample households. Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) who routinely collect data in these areas were involved to help update the sampling frame and support the field team in identifying the sampled houses. From each informal settlement, we interviewed every 10th household

Deviations from the Sample Design

N/A

Response Rate

100%

Weighting

N/A

Data Collection

Dates of Data Collection (YYYY/MM/DD)

Start date	End date
2023-02-27	2023-04-03

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Supervision

Field interviewers were trained in both English and Swahili on informed consenting, data protection, good interviewing skills as well as questionnaire administration.
We conducted mirror interviews during training to ensure a thorough understanding of the questionnaire as well as piloting of the data collection tools in the field before actual data collection to test validity, accuracy and reliability of the tools to collect quality data.
Translation: Research tools were translated into Kiswahili to facilitate clear communication.
Quality Control: Team leaders and field supervisors conducted regular spot checks to ensure the accuracy of the data collected by interviewers. The project team held debrief meetings daily to discuss and resolve field challenges.

Type of Research Instrument

HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS-Englsh
Soco economc-english
solid waste mangement practices-engliish

Data Processing

Cleaning Operations

Data Collection: We used tablets integrated with SurveyCTO for data collection. The tool had skip patterns to ensure question flow and data quality
Monitoring: Interviewers transmitted data daily to the central APHRC server, allowing the project team to conduct daily quality checks.
Analysis: The quantitative dataset was downloaded from the server anonymized and analysed using STATA software.

Other Processing

N/A

Data Appraisal

Estimates of Sampling Error

N/A

Data access

Contact

Name	Email
African Population and Health Research Center	datarequest@aphrc.org

Conditions

APHRC data access condition

All non-APHRC staff seeking to use data generated at the Center must obtain written approval to use the data from the Director of Research.
This form is developed to assess applications for data use and facilitate responsible sharing of data with external partners/collaborators/researchers. By entering into this agreement, the undersigned agrees to use these data only for the purpose for which they were obtained and to abide by the conditions outlined below:

1.Data Ownership:
The data remain the property of APHRC; any unauthorized reproduction and sharing of the data is strictly prohibited. The user will, therefore, not release nor permit others to use or release the data to any other person without the written authorization from the Center.

2.Purpose:
The provided data must be used for the purpose specified in the Data Request Form; any other use not specified in the form must receive additional or separate authorization.

3.Respondent Identifiers:
The Center is committed to protecting the identity of the respondents who provide information in its research. All analytical data sets (both qualitative and quantitative) released by the Data Unit MUST are stripped of respondent identifiers to protect the identity of the respondents. By accepting to use APHRC data, the user is pledging that he/she will not, under any circumstance, regenerate the identifiers or permit others to use the data to learn the identity of any individual, household or community included in any data set.

4.Confidentiality pledge:
The user will not use nor permit others to use the data to report any information in the data sets that could identify, directly or by inference, individuals or households.

5.Reporting of errors or inconsistencies:
The user will promptly notify the Head of the Statistics and Survey Unit any errors discovered in the data as soon as the errors are discovered.

6.Publications resulting from APHRC data:
The Center requires external collaborators to work with APHRC staff on all publications resulting from its data. In order to facilitate this, lead authors should send a detailed concept note of the paper (including the background, rationale, data, analytical methods, and preliminary findings) to the Principle Investigator (or Theme Leader) for the project (with a copy to the Director of Research), who will circulate the abstract to concerned researchers for possible expression of interest in participating in the publication as co-authors. Any exception to the involvement of APHRC staff should be approved by the Director of Research, APHRC.

7.Security:
The user will take responsibility for the security of the data by ensuring that the data are used and stored in a secure environment where access is password protected. This will ensure that non-authorized people should not have access to the data.

8.Loss of privilege to use data:
In the event that APHRC determines that the data user is in violation of the conditions for using the data, or if the user wishes to cancel this agreement, the user will destroy the data files provided to him/her. APHRC retains the right to revoke this agreement or informs publishers to withhold publication of any work based wholly or in part on its data if the conditions for using the data are violated.

9.Acknowledgement:
Any work/reports from this data must acknowledge APHRC as the source of these data. For example, the suggested acknowledgement for NUHDSS data is:
"This research uses livelihoods data collected under the longitudinal Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS) since 2006. The NUHDSS is carried out by the African Population and Health Research Center in two slums settlements (Korogocho and Viwandani) in Nairobi City."Additionally all funders, the study communities that provided the data, and staff who collected and analyzed or processed the data should be acknowledged.

10.Deposit of Reports/Papers:
The user should submit electronic and paper copies of all publications generated using APHRC data to the Policy Engagement and Communications Department, with copies to the Director of Research.

11.Change of contact details:
The user will promptly inform the Director of Research of any change in your personal details as contained on this data request form.

Citation requirement

Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download

Disclaimer and copyrights

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.

Metadata production

Document ID

DDI-KEN-APHRC-CUSSH-2018-V1.0

Producers

Name	Abbreviation	Role
African Population and Health Research Center	APHRC	Documentaton of DDI

Date of Production

2025-11-28

Document version

Verson 1.0 (Nov 2025)