| dc.description.abstract | Solid waste management presents a major challenge for many municipal authorities in
Sub-Saharan African cities, where rapid growth, social and cultural change, widespread
poverty, inadequate and weak local enforcement capacity and limited financial resources
all contribute to environmental degradation and waste disposal challenges. Nairobi, the
capital city of Kenya, generates over 2000 tonnes of solid waste daily and only 40% is
collected and disposed. The city experiences a high level of poverty and unemployment
among the poor who constitute over 60% of the population. Many youths living in the
informal settlements are highly affected by lack of jobs in the formal sector and to
address their plight, they have come up with initiatives to address poverty and
unemployment as well as environmental burdens and insecurity in their neighborhoods
through recycling waste resources. One major problem that the urban poor in cities of
Sub-Saharan Africa have to contend with is inaccessibility of affordable cooking fuel,
and it has been shown from numerous studies that the majority of people depend on
charcoal for cooking. The residents of Kahawa Soweto village are no exception to this
challenge and so Soweto Youth in Action (SOYIA) youth group, in collaboration with
Urban Harvest and Kenya Green Towns Partnership Association (Green Towns),
developed an action research initiative on making fuel briquettes from urban solid waste
generated from the neighborhood and environs with the objective of generating income
and providing employment while contributing to environmental management. In the
course of the project TERRA NUOVA, the private sector and the University of Nairobi
joined the partnership to provide specified technical expertise. This action research
project was the follow-up to a larger study on solid waste management carried out in
2003-2004 by Urban Harvest and partners where SOYIA youth group was one of the
CBOs that played a key role to the success of that project.
The fuel briquette-making project was implemented from February 2007 to February
2008 at Kahawa Soweto village when a pilot briquette production pilot plant was
established and had the following items needed for the process: three briquette presses,
paper shredder, drying rack and storage/sales facility. Gender responsive diagnostic
studies on sources of raw materials and market opportunities were carried out in the
village and its environs. Training courses on governance including issues of leadership,
conflict resolution and gender, project management with networking, advocacy and
resource mobilization components including the technical side of fuel briquette
production and marketing were conducted. During the training, gender responsive subcommittees
on resource mobilization, production and sale and marketing were formed
and developed the rules and regulations for governing their enterprise and a business plan
using participatory methods. The fuel briquettes were made from common waste
materials and their quality evaluated in a participatory manner. In terms of calorific
value, ash content, moisture content, volatile matter, time taken to ignite, time needed to
cook a mixture of maize and beans (githeri) and time taken to burn completely to ash;
charcoal dust and waste paper type of briquette was received the highest rating followed
by charcoal dust + sawdust and waste paper and the lowest rating was given to the ones
made from charcoal dust + maize cobs and waste paper. Based on these observations, the SOYIA youth group is concentrating on producing briquettes from charcoal dust and
waste paper and 600 units had been produced in January and February out of which 300
were sold. The briquettes were sold to residents of Kahawa Soweto and environs at Ksh
3-5 (US$ 0.04-0.06) per piece. Further studies on quality enhancement, possible impact
of fuel briquette technology in climate change especially through emission of greenhouse
gases and health risks from indoor pollution particularly on women and children need to
be given attention. | en |
