Gender dimensions of solid and liquid waste management for reuse in agriculture in Asia and Africa

Abstract

Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) is at the core of the circular economy and particularly important in an urbanizing world where cities as consumption hubs become vast sinks of usually wasted resources. To recover the value which wastewater and organic (food) waste, in particular, can offer agriculture, there are many entry and scaling barriers for entrepreneurs to realize the required potential of the circular economy, and these are even higher for women. Different challenges apply to efforts increasing safe reuse where resource recovery is already happening at scale, for example in the informal wastewater irrigation sector.

Sewage sludge: a review of business models for resource recovery and reuse

“…Lystek International offers biosolids processing solutions for municipal wastewater treatment plants and organic waste materials from industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors. 21 The company offers patented design and build services to implement thermal hydrolysis and associated systems. It also produces LysteGro, a pathogen-free, nutrient-rich fertilizer that meets the standards of a USEPA Class A material.…”

“…https://www.cleanaway.com.au/waste/biosolids-waste-management/ (accessed on September 12, 2022) 20 https://www.severntrent.com/sustainability-strategy/environment/bioresources/biosolids/ (accessed on April 24, 2023)21 https://lystek.com/ (accessed on August 10, 2022)…”

Wastewater: Turning Problem to Solution - A UNEP Rapid Response Assessment

“…Women play an important informal role in the management and use of wastewater (International Labour Organization 2017), in addition to which Ungureanu, Vlăduț and Voicu (2020) identify women and children as being at particular risk of disease from eating food produced with wastewater. The development of policies and interventions needed to realize benefits from wastewater resource recovery and reuse will require a gendered perspective to ensure solutions are both safe and appropriate (Taron, Drechsel and Gebrezgabher 2021; see also case study 16 -Georgia). The WWAP Water and Gender Working Group's Call to Action for accelerating gender equity across the water domain was adopted in 2021 and included a road map to ensure successful delivery of the 2030 Agenda.…”

“…Quality standards: Quality standards for the reuse and return of wastewater to the environment have been evolving since the 1910s (figure 3.13) (Santos et al 2021). Standards are an important prerequisite for the safe and sustainable reuse of unconventional water sources and other recovered products -they provide a basis for accountability and in turn can help build social and cultural acceptability (Salgot and Folch 2018;Taron, Drechsel and Gebrezgabher 2021;Bauer and Wagner 2022). The establishment standards for water quality form an important mechanism for ensuring human and environmental safety and can provide reassurance to increase trust (Salgot and Folch 2018).…”

The WHO Guidelines for Safe Wastewater Use in Agriculture: A Review of Implementation Challenges and Possible Solutions in the Global South

“…However, in practice, farmers' awareness of risks is often low, protective gear is considered impractical for the task and climate, and any observed health problems, such as skin irritations, are accepted as a professional challenge well balanced by the economic benefit [39]. A review of cases from Africa and Asia showed that risks, risk awareness, and risk reduction can have distinct gender dimensions from farm to fork which have to be considered to make risk reduction successful [57].…”