Data collection took place in the neighborhood of Barranco in the Southeast of Lima (Figure) between June 12, 2017 and July 4, 2017. Details regarding the structure and processes of the formalization program were gathered a priori with the help of information material and conversations with members of the NGO CS. Contact information of recyclers associations in Lima were also provided during these meetings. Since the aim of the thesis is to determine change in the livelihoods of formalized recyclers in comparison with their informal colleagues, formalized interviewees form the sample group while informal recyclers count as the control group.
By coordinating with the president of Barranco’s recyclers association Jesús Carlos Fernandez Gallegos, 10 interviews with formal recyclers were set up. All interviews with members of the association took place during daytime in public locations. Accompanied by Mister Fernandez, the author met up with formal recyclers either during one of their days off work or while they were collecting waste from households on their assigned routes.
Several conversations with president Fernandez lead to a meaningful insight into the reality of formal and informal recyclers in Barranco. Valid information additionally could be gained through an expert interview with Carlos Tuesta Agurto, the project manager of Ciudad Saludable’s program fostering formalization of recyclers. Against the backdrop of this background knowledge, 10 interviews were held with informal recyclers in Barranco, out of which one was also set up with the help of president Fernandez. The author approached the remaining nine interview partners in public places, such as the main square or on the side of roads and alleys, while they were looking
for valuable refuse. Twice, the author was accompanied by locals who assisted by recording the interview. All interviews with informal recyclers were carried out during night time.
All 20 interviews were held in Spanish without using a translator, since the author has sufficient command of the language. As a second step, the recorded interviews were transcribed and then analyzed in Spanish. The results were finally translated into English.
5.1.1 Determining Factors of Interviews with Control and Sample Group
When preparing the field study, a sample size of 10 participants was defined as a minimum threshold for both, the sample as well as the control group. This study does not claim to be quantitatively representative due to the fact that the interviews were carried out within a restricted time frame that did not allow for collection of commensurable data.
The sample group consists of 10 out of 33 members of the recyclers’ association “Asociación de Recicladores y Gestión de Residuos Sólidos Fray Martin de Porres”. Membership in this association was defined as the principal criterium for selecting the interview partners, since becoming a member of the association is a necessary step in the individual formalization process. Interviewees in the sample group then described diverse circumstances of their livelihoods while sharing participation in the formalization program as one livelihood strategy. The interviews with formal recyclers were held in different public locations within the district boundaries of Barranco. As all members of the association get assigned to certain individual routes within the neighborhood, interviewees deal with distinct preconditions concerning the collection process, for example diverging numbers of households that are part of their routes or quality of refuse provided by the households. The circumstances that influence the livelihoods of the sample group could thus be regarded as representative for the district of Barranco but not for the city of Lima38.
As for the control group, several livelihoods and different ways of positioning recycling in their portfolio of livelihood strategies were described by the 10 informal interviewees which leads to a diverse representation of informal recyclers. Like that, some of the respondents stated that selling
38 Lima is divided into 43 districts that may differ greatly concerning macro and micro frame conditions determining the livelihoods of recyclers. For example, in the district of Miraflores that counts with a population of about 81 932 persons, about 24 000 households have direct access to drinking water. Assuming that a household consists of roundabout 4 individuals, Miraflores is home to 20 483 households and thus has a coverage for potable water of more than 100%. San Juan de Lurigancho, on the other hand, counts with an estimated population of 1 091 303 people and 137 070 households with access to drinking water, which results in a coverage of about 50% (Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, 2017).
valuable refuse was their main source of income, while others stressed the fact that their recycling activities were only a small additional support. Just like the meetings with formal recyclers, interviews with informal recyclers were held in different pubic locations in Barranco. Since informal recyclers perform an illegal activity and, at times, are persecuted by authorities, most of them search for valuable waste during night time. Interviewees were approached by the author while they were working, and the interviews were thus all held during night time. Recyclers were selected to be part of the control group of this study when they met the criterium of not receiving any external support to their work.
Concluding it can be said that both groups cannot be considered to represent the situation of all recyclers in Barranco. Nonetheless, important implications for the specific case as well as the general topic of recycling as a livelihood strategy may be drawn from their statements.
5.1.2 Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects of Data Collection
Although the focus of this thesis is on qualitative information about the livelihoods of recyclers in Barranco, data collection included qualitative as well as quantitative aspects. Qualitative features result from the explorative research design of the study. This approach was required because no satisfiable facts about the well-being of Peruvian recyclers in terms of income and health measures could be found in the literature. The study is trying to capture every-day processes of individuals, and thus is in need of qualitative data in order to produce a valid representation of individual motives (Mayring, 2015). Also, qualitative date is needed to work out functionings and derive capabilities of recyclers in Barranco.
Semi-structured interviews were chosen as a fitting tool to generate the projected kind of data, since they allow for examination of people’s perceptions and opinions (Kallio, Pietila, Johnson, &
Kangasniemi, 2016). The interview guideline consisted of mainly open questions which served as the basis for conversations in contrast to a formal interview situation. Thanks to the accessible and adjustable structure of the guideline, an atmosphere of casual conversation was created in which experiences could be described that would not have been addressed during a fully structured interview. The common guideline finally helped to quantify some answers but most importantly to translate the individual statements into general outcomes and provided the possibility to answer the research questions.
Furthermore, the first part of the interview guideline consisted in questions that could be answered with concepts of numbers and hence rendered quantitative answers (Mayring, 2015). The questions were designed to retrieve details of the interviewees’ micro conditions, such as the size of their household and their age, as well as the state of their livelihood asset portfolio concerning possession of a health insurance and their educational level. On the basis of these quantifiable data, a quantitative overview of some micro conditions and asset equipment could be created (Table 2).
5.1.3 Operationalization of the MCLAA Framework
The foremost intention when deciding for the described methods of data collection was their suitability for producing results in accordance with the MCLAA framework. The building blocks which constitute the framework can also be found in the interview guideline, adopted to the situation of formal and informal recyclers in Barranco.
5.1.3.1 Capabilities
Providing the informational basis of the CA as well as the MCLAA, operationalizing capabilities was a crucial part in the process of examination. A person’s capabilities manifest in the multitude of possibilities to do or be, she may choose from. This opportunity space presents itself rather vaguely in an interview situation though, which makes it hard to grasp in the field. Following the proposition of Sen (1993, 2012) and Robeyns (2006), capabilities of recyclers in Barranco have therefore been derived from their achieved functionings. The interview guideline39 for formalized recyclers consisted of 19 questions, out of which seven items were directed at the functionings resulting from their participation in the program. The guideline for informal recyclers consisted of 16 questions, out of which six questions aimed at their achieved functionings. Two questions were designed to learn about the capabilities of recyclers directly which were the same for informal and formal recyclers. They consisted in hypothetical questions, asking respondents to imagine their behavior given that their individual situation concerning income and health measures would be a better one than it was at the time of the interview. Hence, the capability of being able to feed one’s family, for example, would have been derived from the stated functioning of buying food for the respondent’s family.
39 See Annex A 3 for the full interview guidelines.
Additionally, operationalization of capabilities for a general assessment of livelihoods always must include the selection of a weighting method (Robeyns, 2006). In the context of this thesis, the weighting process did not follow Alkire (2002), who opts for a deliberative process to work out the essential capabilities of a group, nor Nussbaum (2003) and her list of central capabilities. Instead, the questions of the interview guideline were held as open as possible, so that participants would not feel restricted when answering them. Like that, the selection process was left to the individual recyclers themselves, so that a nearly unprejudiced list of the most important capabilities for recyclers in Barranco could be facilitated.
5.1.3.2 Assets
Since the specific assets of income and health measures were chosen as an entry point to the assessment of the recyclers’ well-being, most questions of the interview guideline were concerned either with the generation of these assets or with their conversion by the individual.
The generation of income was put in the context of the livelihood strategy of participating in a formalization program for formal recyclers and inquired generally when interviewing members of the control group. The same approach was used for the generation of health measures. For the case of formal recyclers, interview questions were designed to retrieve information about change in their livelihoods after adopting the new livelihood strategy regarding income and health measures.
Questions about the conversion of the two assets into capabilities and functionings were either targeted at specific outcomes of asset investment like health status, or formulated more openly, so that answers would not be restricted to the frame of income or health measures.
Additionally, several questions aimed at information about other items of the individual asset portfolio, like the recycler’s level of education or her possession of a health insurance. Formal recyclers were also asked about approval of their work by friends and neighbors after they had entered the formalization program.
5.1.3.3 Macro and Micro frame conditions
Macro and micro frame conditions affect all components of the MCLAA framework. Yet, an adequate analysis of the influence of macro circumstances does not fit into the scope of this thesis for several reasons. First, an analysis of macro conditions would have required to consider long-term processes like the influence of legal recognition of recyclers or change in consumption
behavior and the resulting quality of waste of Peruvian households. Such an observation was not possible within the given time frame. Second, the case study was completed in a highly specific context which comes along with a multitude of influences on the micro level. The analysis of this variety of micro influences was time-consuming and did not allow for an additional analysis of macro frame conditions. Hence, given that the intention of the research project was to determine the influence of a formalization program on recyclers’ individual well-being in one specific district of Lima, micro conditions of interviewees received greater emphasis than macro conditions.
Micro conditions of the individual participants were considered when asking about demographic facts like their age, the size of their household and whether others in their household worked as recyclers, too. These factors all have an influence on recyclers’ asset portfolio, their conversion factors and their capability and functionings. An elderly recycler, for example, may need more time to collect the same amount of waste than a younger person does. As part of the analysis, which will be explained in the next paragraph, answers of interviewees were put into the context of their micro conditions when necessary for comprehension. Macro conditions were not included in the design of the interviews but scrutinized while describing the context of the case study in chapter 4.