The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has awarded a grant to CREPA and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) to manage a project entitled “Testing a nutrient recycling system (Productive Sanitation Systems) in Niger with a view to measuring its potential for improving agricultural productivity”.

In the context of the soaring world fertilizer prices, some one billion poor smallholder farmers in the world have to use alternative solutions to produce affordable nutrients which can sustain agricultural food production. A new paradigm in agriculture is in the making linking it to sanitation systems using for example urine source-separation, collection and reuse as a chemical fertilizer. IFAD is interested in testing this Productive Sanitation System (PSS) to improve the situation of poor smallholder farmers by providing access to safe human-generated fertilizer for crops.

This pilot project will be integrated into the PPILDA project in the Maradi region (South Niger) to address specifically the improvement of low soil fertility in optimizing nutrient reuse (with hygienised urine). It will test whether Productive Sanitation Systems are accepted by the local population and if it provides an increase in food production, nutrition, income and health in the pilot communities. A comparative analysis with commercial chemical fertilizers will be carried out. The work is based on similar previous successful projects in Africa by CREPA and SEI.

Related publications:

• Morgan, P. (2007). Toilets that make compost : low-cost, sanitary toilets that produce valuable compost for crops in an African context. Stockholm, Sweden, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). Download here
• WHO (2006). Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater. Volume IV: Excreta and greywater use in agriculture. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization (WHO). Download here

Web site: IFAD - The Safe and sustainable livelihoods in agricultural communities: Optimizing the recycling of human waste

Contact: Laurent Stravato, IFAD, Italy, l.stravato@ifad.org ; Anselme Vodhounessi CREPA, Burkina Faso, ecosan_UE@reseaucrepa.org ;Arno Rosemarin, SEI, Sweden, arno.rosemarin@sei.se

Source: Laurent Stravato, IFAD, 29 Aug 2008

Tags: africa, ecological sanitation