Turning curse into cure: Potential of water hyacinth for bio-refining - A contextual investigation of Lake Tana

Invasive Water Hyacinth Challenges, Opportunities, Mitigation, and Policy Implications: The Case of the Nile Basin

“…It first appeared in Africa in the early 1900s and in Europe in the 1930s [4]. Known for its rapid spreading rate and noxiousness, WH has been reported to be able to double its coverage in an average of 13 days, allowing plants to cover a wide range of water surfaces in a short period of time [5,6]. The term "noxiousness" indicates that WH has severely damaged the water bodies due to its biology and function in aquatic ecosystems.…”

“…Most water bodies in Ethiopia such as the Abay River Basin (Lake Tana and the Blue Nile), the Awash River Basin (Koka Lake and Koka Dam), the Baro-Akobo River Basin (Sorbate, Baro, Gillo, and Pibor rivers), the Rift Valley Basin (Lake Ellen, Lake Elltoke, and Lake Abaya), and many other parts of East Africa have been attacked by this noxious weed [8]. These water bodies are located in the Nile Basin, and contribute 90% of the Nile's water [6,9,10]. However, WH is creating severe adverse impacts on these water bodies' ecosystems and causing problems in navigation, which strongly affects the daily life of the local population and riparian communities [7]; interrupts hydropower generation systems, causes high water losses through evapotranspiration, and blocks turbines [11].…”

“…However, WH is creating severe adverse impacts on these water bodies' ecosystems and causing problems in navigation, which strongly affects the daily life of the local population and riparian communities [7]; interrupts hydropower generation systems, causes high water losses through evapotranspiration, and blocks turbines [11]. There are also other health issues, such as the incidence of breeding habitat for the malaria-causing Anopheles mosquito and other disease vectors [6,12]. Fishermen, especially related to women fish sellers, have seen a considerable drop in their earnings [6,13].…”

“…There are also other health issues, such as the incidence of breeding habitat for the malaria-causing Anopheles mosquito and other disease vectors [6,12]. Fishermen, especially related to women fish sellers, have seen a considerable drop in their earnings [6,13]. Another issue is irrigation system blockage, farmers Worldwide spread of WH; current and future potential spreads (adapted from [2]).…”

“…Various studies have been conducted in this regard, and various scholars have evaluated the potential use and economic benefits of converting WH weed biomass into value-added materials via physical control (both manual and mechanical harvesting) mechanism and valorization. These include natural fertilizer substitutes [17], industrial raw materials for composite and biopolymer production [18], handicrafts and furniture production [19], non-conventional protein sources for animal feed [20], phytoremediation capacity to deal with toxins and heavy metals [21,22], and biorefinery feedstock for bioenergy (fuel briquette, biogas, and bioethanol) production and others [6,15,16,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Nonetheless, in the local context, there are some challenges confronting the control of WH weed infestation through valorization techniques such as lack of community awareness, lack of a constituted body to enforce control programs and integrated valorization projects, the absence of a comprehensive and suitable policy framework, and high amounts of effluents released in the water bodies leading to eutrophication [6,9,16].…”