Training manual for fecal sludge-based compost production and application

Abstract

Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) is a subprogram of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) dedicated to applied research on the safe recovery of water, nutrients and energy from domestic and agro-industrial waste streams. This subprogram aims to create impact through different lines of action research, including (i) developing and testing scalable RRR business models, (ii) assessing and mitigating risks from RRR for public health and the environment, (iii) supporting public and private entities with innovative approaches for the safe reuse of wastewater and organic waste, and (iv) improving rural-urban linkages and resource allocations while minimizing the negative urban footprint on the peri-urban environment. This subprogram works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations University (UNU), and many national and international partners across the globe. The RRR series of documents present summaries and reviews of the subprogram's research and resulting application guidelines, targeting development experts and others in the research The authors Dr. Josiane Nikiema is a senior researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and is based in Accra, Ghana. She has a PhD in chemical engineering from the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada. Her fields of expertise include domestic wastewater treatment and reuse, recovery of nutrients and organic matter from fecal sludge and organic solid waste, and testing business models for safe resource recovery and reuse. Dr. Olufunke O. Cofie is a principal researcher with a background in soil science. She heads IWMI's West Africa office in Accra, Ghana, and has worked over the past 15 years on the interface of sanitation and agriculture. Mr. Robert Impraim has an MSc in crop science and was a research officer for recycling and reuse at IWMI's Ghana office. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Eric G. Nartey has an MSc in environmental science. He is a research officer for recycling and reuse at IWMI's Ghana office. Mrs. Nilanthi Jayathilake has an MSc in environmental engineering and management. She is a research officer for septage management and reuse at IWMI headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Introducing co-composting to fecal sludge treatment plants in Benin and Burkina Faso: a logistical and financial assessment

“…Since 2017, a new FS processing unit has enabled dewatered FS to be co-composted with municipal organic solid waste near Nungua Farms through the process described in Figure 5 (also see Nikiema et al 2020). In Greater Accra, there is also comment about other (informal) dumping sites used by some truck operators; however, no data are available about the capacity of these locations and frequency of use.…”

“…It will be important to 'guarantee' a defined nutrient content if the FS is transformed and marketed as compost. To buffer variations in quality, Nikiema et al (2020) recommended to either present labels with nutrient ranges on compost bags and/or to enrich the compost with key nutrients (NPK) to achieve constant percentages. However, this requires compost analysis for each batch and higher production costs.…”

“…In this section, the potential of introducing FS co-composting at the existing FSTPs in Burkina Faso and Benin is assessed, following a model similar to the one already implemented near Nungua Farms, Ghana, and operated by Jekora Ventures Ltd. (see Nikiema et al 2020).…”

“…To generate the financial models for Burkina Faso and Benin, we adopted a scenario replicating the experience of the co-composting facility at Nungua Farms FSTP in Ghana using similar design factors and processes (Armah 2016;Nikiema et al 2020). For the co-composting process, apart from FS, food waste and sawdust were used as the main additional organic waste sources.…”

“…This is mainly due to the 10 times higher TS content in the FS (Table 6), leading to higher amounts of dewatered FS available for co-composting. However, the high sand level in the Ekpè FS will cause challenges for compost quality and (if desired) the machinery for processing compost into pellets (Nikiema et al 2020).…”