RUNRES is a project that addresses the nutrient gradient between urban and rural areas. Broadly speaking, nutrient mining occurs in agricultural areas due to increased food production, while nutri- ents are accumulated in urban areas where food is consumed. The main objective of RUNRES is to co-design, test, implement and scale safe, (cost-)efficient, and socially acceptable innovations to valorise urban and rural waste resources and improve the circular economy related to food and agriculture. RUNRES achieved this by working with several transdisciplinary innovation platforms (TdIP) in Arba Minch, Ethiopia; Bukavu, eastern DR Congo; Kamonyi, Rwanda; and Msunduzi, South Africa. The project aimed to improve environmental and human health, household income and food security.
Co-design various innovations and their application together with different stakeholders from different sectors: agriculture, waste treatment, sanitation, feed and food sector, academia, and public authorities.
Test waste management processes and waste recycling innovative business models.
Implement (cost-)efficient, and socially acceptable innovations to valorize urban and rural waste resources and improve the circular economy related to food and agriculture.
Scale safe environmental and human health, household income, and food security.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The city of Bukavu faces challenges such as the inadequate waste management infrastructure. Composting of organic waste is a promising approach to tackle the sanitation and solid waste problem in Bukavu, while also addressing the declining soil fertility of agricultural land in rural areas.
Ethiopia
The two innovations in Arba Minch aimed to close the nutrient cycle by collecting and composting organic household waste and processing bananas into a nutrient-rich flour, where the vast majority of organic waste is not utilized.
Rwanda
As a response to the challenges in livestock growing, urbanization, demand for animal protein and high cost of animal feed, in the city of Bukavu, RUNRES project initiated and tested Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) as an alternative source of protein, and High Quality Cassava Peel (HQCP) flour as a carbohydrate-rich animal feed.
South Africa
RUNRES South Africa addresses two innovations: co-composting of green waste and wastewater residues, and the provision of toilet systems in underserved areas that include nutrient recovery (effluent and urine).
