Innovations

Organic waste recycling in Arba Minch

The solid waste generated in Arba Minch and other places in Ethiopia consists of 70% organic material and poses a challenge for the communities. If not properly managed, organic waste leads to greenhouse gas emissions, soil, water, and air pollution, and poses health risks to the population. Composting as a waste management and recycling strategy can bring economic benefits, reduce waste volumes, and contribute to agricultural production by returning compost to the soil as a soil conditioner.

The Eganew Mayet Compost Association (ENMCPA), founded in 2006, produces compost from organic waste and supplies it to local farmers. With the help of RUNRES, the association has been able to increase the amount of compost produced and improve Arba Minch’s waste management and sanitation. Organic waste is composted efficiently and safely, and made available as organic fertilizer.

Material flows of nutrient recycling

The solid waste is collected in Arba Minch town and transported to transfer points, where the organic portion is separated for compost production. The inorganic waste is either disposed of or reused if it is plastic or metal. The compost used by farmers serves as organic fertilizer for growing crops that are eventually consumed by residents. Food waste eventually finds its way back to close the nutrient cycle.

Customers/beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries of the RUNRES project are waste collectors, composters, and day laborers who are temporarily employed in composting. Micro and small enterprises (MSE) receive direct support to enhance their waste collection and composting activities. The residents of Arba Minch, the banana and other crop farmers of the Gamo zone, are the beneficiaries of this innovation. The availability of high-quality compost improves soil fertility and productivity, benefiting farmers and promoting sustainable agricultural practices in the region.

Composting in response to sanitation and soil infertility

The city of Bukavu, with a population of more than 1.6 million, faces major sanitation challenges, including inadequate waste management infrastructure that exposes the population to health and environmental risks. Almost 900 tonnes of household solid waste are generated daily, of which only 7% (approximately 60 tonnes) are collected and removed. The rest is disposed of on the streets and in the sewers and eventually ends up in Lake Kivu. Composting is a sustainable method that has the potential to address sanitation challenges in urban areas while enhancing soil fertility in surrounding rural areas. In order to solve both problems (unsanitary conditions and soil fertility), the innovation of composting organic household waste was initiated and successfully tested by a consortium led by Diobass in Kabare as part of the RUNRES pilot phase.

Compost production cycle
The composting cycle is a natural process of organic matter decomposition. It begins with the collection of organic waste such as kitchen waste, leaves, and garden waste, and ends with the use of the product (compost), e.g., in agriculture.

Input/output
The organic waste is piled up on a compost heap, alternating with drier materials such as leaves or twigs. Depending on the type of waste used as raw material, the waste is converted into a nutrient-rich compost within 12 to 16 weeks. In addition to the raw material, i.e., organic waste, the input included training on composting organic waste and on the production of coffee seedlings. The output includes the quantities of organic waste collected, waste processed, compost produced, sold, and used.

Product use and key customer
The end users of the compost produced are the coffee farmers who are members of the RAEK cooperative. The most reliable customers are local vegetable producers. Although the compost is sold at a relatively low price of 30 to 40 US dollars per tonne, small-scale producers are still not willing to pay for it, as they hope to receive it free of charge from development NGOs.

Reframing human excreta management for nutrient recycling

South African municipalities face several cross-sectoral challenges in the areas of waste management, sanitation, and agriculture. Continued nutrient mining from growing food that is consumed elsewhere and in ever-greater quantities is depleting the fertility of agricultural land. At the same time, municipalities are struggling to dispose of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants. Rapid urbanization and changes in diet are leading to the generation of large quantities of food waste and organic waste (including in sewage sludge), which shortens the lifespan of landfills and causes high carbon emissions.

To address these challenges, RUNRES carried out a pilot project to co-compost organic green waste and wastewater residues. This contributes to waste management, wastewater disposal, and agriculture by making compost available again as a soil improver for agricultural land.

Customers
The products are sold to various clients depending on their needs. Clients are wholesalers, commercial farmers, households, and landscapers.

This project supported Maggot Farm Ltd (MF) to pilot an innovation that valorizes organic waste into Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) and frass. The BSFL constitutes a good alternative source of protein for the production of animal feed, while the frass is an organic fertilizer for soil amendment.

Technical description of innovation
The technical process of utilizing black soldier flies involves introducing their larvae onto organic waste, such as food residues. The larvae consume the waste material, breaking it down. As they feed, they rapidly grow and accumulate nutrients from the waste. Once fully grown, the larvae are harvested and can be used as animal feed, and the frass generated by the larvae serves as organic fertilizer.

BSFL production cycle
The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) follows a rapid production cycle, beginning with the laying of eggs in decaying organic matter. Upon hatching, the larvae consume the waste material. As they mature, the larvae enter the prepupal stage, seeking a dry and sheltered area for pupation. Inside their pupal casing, metamorphosis occurs, culminating in the emergence of adult flies. These adults then mate and repeat the cycle, with the entire process typically taking around 14 days to complete under ideal conditions.

Partners & staff
Partners: Maggot Farm Ltd worked with suppliers of food waste (food processors, hotels) and livestock farmers as clients. The business benefited from the technical support from IITA, ETH, and the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB).
Staff: The company employs 12 individuals, including 4 men, 8 women, and 8 youth, a promising trend of youth engagement and inclusion.

In Rwanda, cassava peels are usually thrown away, which contributes to the accumulation of waste and leads to health and environmental problems. At the same time, the country faces an increased demand for affordable animal feed to support the growth in the livestock sub-sector driven by rapid urbanization. RUNRES supported AKANOZE Nyamiyaga to pilot an innovation that valorizes the cassava peels into a carbohydrate-based ingredient (High-Quality Cassava peel – HQCP) for animal feed formulation. The HQCP innovation provides a good alternative source of carbohydrate ingredients in the formulation of animal feed while helping to reduce environmental pollution.

HQCP flour processing flow
AKANOZE collects cassava peels from its cassava roots processing unit and from cassava farmers. The peels are transported to the processing site, where the remnants of soil are removed. The cassava peels are then conveyed into the grinder to be turned into a coarse mash. Then the mash is fed into the press to remove water and cyanides. After the press, the wet mash (30–40% of the initial weight of peels) can be fed to animals or dried in the sun. The dried mash is passed through a milling machine to be ground into a fine flour that can be mixed with other ingredients to produce animal feed.

Customers (farmers)
Animal feed ingredients from cassava peels can replace maize, which is more expensive. Cassava peels are more suitable in Rwanda and other places in Africa that suffer from a shortage of affordable, high-quality animal feed. HQCP flour is fed to all types of livestock (pigs, cattle, poultry, fish, etc.). An alternative to flour is the wet cake of cassava peels, which is fed to pigs and cattle. Sheep and goat farmers can also use the wet cake to feed their animals.
– 481 farmers close to the processing unit supplied the cassava peels.
– 126 farmers bought cassava mash.
-43 farmers bought HQCP flour.

Post-harvest losses of Ethiopian bananas are estimated at around 25–30%. These losses are due to the perishable nature of bananas, long transport times in overloaded trucks and the traditional kerosene-smoked methods used to ripen them. Processing bananas into flour is a viable solution to this problem.

Anjonus, a fruit and vegetable processing company founded in 2016, has started processing raw bananas into flour in view of the existing post-harvest losses and the absence of banana processing plants in the region, as well as the nutritional advantages of banana flour.

Material flows of banana processing
Raw bananas purchased from local farmers are washed, steamed, peeled, sliced and dried in oven. The dried banana was milled and packed for the market. The banana peels are composted with other organic waste and reused as agricultural input.

Customers/beneficiaries
Banana flour customers include people of all ages. It can be fed to kids. When fortified with additional nutrients, banana flour can help address the problem of malnutrition in refugee camps and nutrition centers in the region.