AGFAX: February 2009
Nakuru's compost cooperative (1) the production unit
Mildred Gachoka: Nakuru Waste Collectors and Recyclers Management, Nakuru, Kenya
Summary:
It is estimated that some 260 tonnes of waste are produced every day in the town of Nakuru in western Kenya. Much of this is organic waste, produced by households, farms and markets. Since 2002, a community-based organisation has led the way in waste collection and recycling, and since 2006 has operated a commercial, organic fertiliser production unit. Mildred Gachoka, manager of the unit, shows Eric Kadenge how a uniform fertiliser product is made from a wide variety of waste types - a product which is approved by the Kenya bureau of standards, and is restoring soil fertility to Nakuru's peri-urban farms.
Suggested introduction:
The town of Nakuru in western Kenya used to be the cleanest in East and Central Africa. Its industrial economy was the envy of its neighbours. But in the late 1970s, environmental standards began to decline, with hundreds of tonnes of waste being produced every day.
In 2002, a community-based organisation called the Nakuru Waste Collectors and Recyclers Management, or NAWACOM, was formed. Local self-help groups began garbage collection and recycling projects. And in 2006, the NAWACOM Investment Cooperative was created, to set up a commercial waste recycling operation.
Mildred Gachoka is the manager of NAWACOM's compost production unit. Organic waste from households and farms is collected and composted by local groups and individuals. The processing unit then turns it into a standardised, packaged organic fertiliser product, for sale. Eric Kadenge asked Mildred to show him how the process works.
Tape in:
So what is making all that...
Tape out:
...we can boost the soil fertility.
Closing Announcement:
Mildred Gachoka in Nakuru, Kenya, explaining how organic waste is being turned into a valuable fertiliser product.
Further information:
practicalaction.org/?id=recycl...
Transcript
Kadenge
So what is making all that sound?
Gachoka
It's a combination of all the processing units. We have the siever. From the siever the compost goes to the mixer, from mixer it comes to the granulating point, and then to the packaging area.
Kadenge
So let's go step by step. The siever is the first part on the left that actually looks like a sieve?
Gachoka
Yes, that's where the compost that we have received from the members, it goes to the sieving point, though we usually urge the composters to do sieving at the site, so that we can remove all the foreign matters before they come and weigh. But again we do sieve again a second time, just in case there is any foreign matter that has passed through. So from there it goes to the mixing chamber.
Kadenge
Now the mixing chamber is which one, the one in the middle?
Gachoka
The one at the far end is the mixing chamber. The mixing chamber, that's where the fortification goes on, and also, moisturing also takes place there. That's where, literally all the balancing of the nutrients, balancing of the moisture takes place at the mixing chamber, before it goes to the granulating part.
Kadenge
Why do you need to balance the moisture?
Gachoka
Because there is a specific moisture we want, around 30-40 per cent moisture. And also when we get this compost from the members, we have various composters, so each composter uses different types of material. We have composters who are using household material, we also have composters who are using farm waste, others are using market waste. All this compost has different nutritive composition, that's why it has to go to the mixing chamber, where the rationing is done, to make sure that we get the right nutritive composition at the end of the product. And also the moisture content differs from one composter to the other, so that's why we have to make sure that we mix accordingly and get the right moisture content at the end of the product.
Kadenge
So in that machine are there any other ingredients that you add into the manure, before you end up with the fertiliser?
Gachoka
Yes, as I said the compost that we receive it has variation in terms of nutritive composition. We find the nitrogen, the phosphorus, or the potassium is in different levels. But there is a specific level that we want at the end of the product. So at the mixing chamber, we put those organic additives, we look for organic materials that can boost those nutrients, so that it is properly mixed and at the end of the day we get the product that has the right nutritive composition.
Kadenge
And where do you get these additives?
Gachoka
Nitrogen we get locally. We get plants that are nitrogenous, like over here, you see these drums. That's where we do extraction of that nitrogen in the form of liquid. And that is also what is used in the moisture. We don't just use water, we use the nitrogen extract, so it can give us the right moisture and at the same time boost the nutritive composition. The other products that we get from outside the country, like phosphorous materials, those ones we have to import.
Kadenge
Now that is stage two. From there what happens?
Gachoka
We can either take it from the mixing point, we can take the end product in the form of dust, or we can let it pass through granulating chamber, where now we get product in granules. From there samples of the end product are taken to the lab, and also for product quality testing assurance, we take it to Kenya Bureau of Standards. So that we make sure that whatever is written on the packets is actually what is contained in the product.
Kadenge
Just beyond those metal containers I can see a weighing scale. What is that for?
Gachoka
When the composters bring their compost here, the first thing we do, we have to weigh so we can record the tonnage, because each composter has to be paid, so we have to record the tonnage of each composter.
Kadenge
And to the left of the machine, I can see a lot of bags, that seem to contain something. Is that the fertiliser?
Gachoka
Yes, at the far end have the 50kg packages, well labelled, Mazingira Organic Fertiliser, and the nutritive composition, the NPK. And at this other end we have the 25kg packages.
Kadenge
What does Mazingira mean?
Gachoka
Mazingira is environment. The choice of the name is because our fertiliser is purely organic. It doesn't have any chemical additives. As you can see we collect waste from the market, the household. So we try to clean the environment. We recycle that waste and that's what we use in making this fertiliser. We also recycle waste from the farm. We are trying to close the loop; you see that whatever has been taken from the farm goes back to the farm. When it goes to the market, instead of going to waste it is recycled and taken back to the farm so we can boost the soil fertility. End of track.
