Project: APUGEDU

Objectives

The project had the following four objectives:

• Strengthening the development of a sustainable (peri)-urban agricultural sector in Bamako and Ouagadougou.
• Strengthening the development of a viable system of processing, distribution and marketing of organic waste material for application in (peri)-urban agriculture.
• Development of effective linkages between the (peri)-urban agricultural and urban waste management sectors.
• Formulation of development scenarios and policy recommendations and dissemination of results.

Description and Methodology

The project is organized in four sections or working packages:

1. (Peri-)urban agricultural systems
2. Urban waste management systems
3. Reinforcing the link between the two sectors through participatory technology development
4. Development scenarios and dissemination

(Peri-)urban agricultural systems

This section addresses the development options for (peri)-urban agricultural sector in Bamako and Ouagadougou. Research concentrates on the identifying the constraints and potentials facing aspects of these farming systems, including farm management, soil fertility management, intensification, income and economic viability, market developments for inputs and agricultural products, access to land and land titling. Methodologies involve a combination of participatory appraisal techniques (e.g. transects, flow diagrams, group discussions) and formal surveys of farm management techniques, with an emphasis on nutrient management practices, in selected study sites in the two cities. Research should identify the opportunities for employing new nutrient sources, including biophysical and economic characteristics to be fulfilled. The perspectives of other stakeholders, including policy and decision-makers in government agencies, are identified and implicated through workshops in order that any potential policy constraints can be addressed.

Urban waste management systems

This section examines the recent developments and constraints and potentials facing the urban waste management sector in Bamako and Ouagadougou. Emphasis is placed on the potential for processing and application of waste in the agricultural sector. Aspects addressed include output quantity and quality, organization and distribution, economic viability, and access and control over waste products. The research methodology again involves a combination of formal surveys and participatory assessments of waste management enterprises. Appropriate methods are also developed and applied to assess the toxicity of waste products.

3. Reinforcing the link between the two sectors through participatory technology development

Following the first two sections, the potential for improving the use of urban organic waste in the (peri)-urban agricultural sector in Bamako and Ouagadougou is explored through a process of participatory technology development. This involves techniques for transforming organic waste into products meeting farmers' needs and budgets, as well as the development of agricultural practices for using improved types of organic waste. Research thus addresses the nutritional and toxicological requirements of waste products and includes on-farm trials with measurements of agro-economic performance and health parameters (toxicity involving heavy metals or pathogenic organisms). In addition, organizational and distributional constraints are assessed with the aim of developing solutions to any impediments that might exist.

4. Development scenarios and dissemination

The last section focuses on the analysis of a number of development scenarios concerning further linkages between the agricultural and waste management sectors in Bamako and Ouagadougou. Formulation and analysis of these scenarios through a series of stakeholder workshops also leads to the identification and addressing of policy recommendations. Dissemination of the results takes place at various levels: through exchange visits, development of training materials, publications in popular and scientific journals and on the Internet.

Outputs

• Analysis of trends, constraints and potential for (peri)-urban agriculture in Bamako and Ouagadougou, including an enabling policy framework.
• Analysis of the requirements, constraints and potential for using urban organic waste in (peri)-urban agriculture, including the following aspects: quantity, quality, economic and organizational requirements, and supporting policies
• Simple and appropriate methods for the toxicological analysis of organic waste developed and tested
• Analysis of the (peri-)urban nutrient flows and the (peri)-urban market for organic nutrients
• Scenarios for further development of linkages between the urban waste and agriculture sectors formulated and analyzed
• Stakeholders implicated in analysis of scenario formulation and policy makers targeted with recommendations
• Training materials for waste transformation technologies and for agronomic practices
• Publications in popular and scientific journals, and through Internet

More information and the report can be found on: www.lei.dlo.nl/apugedu/