The escalating rate of poverty in the country is continually sending thousands to dumpsite as the only source of their income.
In Nakuru, the poor have remained at Gioto dumpsite as the only source of income and those who eke out a living there wake up at 5am till sundown searching for food and other valuable materials like scrap metals and plastics bottles among other materials that can be sold and bring in some cash.
Alice Njuguna, a mother of six and a widow works at the dumpsite. She says that without the dumpsite, life could be much more difficult than it is now.
She said she can only put food on the table after working at the dumpsite.
The bad smell from decomposing debris and choking smoke from burning trash does not scare her from doing her job. She says that what matters is the job.
John Chege, 41, has worked at the dumpsite for more than five years. Chege is only armed with a stick and a metal barrel as tools of trade. He also has gumboots, gloves and a mask to protect him from poisonous gases emitted by the waste.
Chege said in a day, he can make Sh 150 or less depending on the day. He said poverty pushed him to the dump, which has created some form of employment.
Children are also not left behind and those as young as seven years also work at the dump. They collect plastics, scrap metals and bones, which they later sell.
In 2008, the UNEP showed that 154 out of the 328 children born near the dumpsite areas suffer from respiratory problems.