Safe and productive use of solid and liquid waste for urban and peri-urban agriculture – a sharing and learning workshop

From 29 April till 4^th of May, the RUAF Foundation and University of Development Studies, Tamale, organised the workshop Safe and Productive Use of Solid and Liquid Waste for Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Tamale, Ghana. Participants came from all WASH countries as well as from Malawi and Burkina Faso (WASH partners in the first two years) and Liberia (RUAF partners).

The RUAF Foundation (RUAF) is a thematic partner in the WASH alliance, and with its partners supports and facilitates the work of WASH Alliance partners on Safe and Productive Use of Waste (water, solid waste and human excreta) for (Urban and Peri-urban) Agriculture. In 2011 and 2012 these partners have undertaken assessments of available international, national and local experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Nepal and Ethiopia, and have started working on selected innovations. The RUAF partner IWMI has been working on this issue for a number of years.

Several of these experiences were presented and discussed during the workshop, while training was provided on co-composting. Tamale had been selected as the location since WASH partners are testing here co-composting, and a WASH Consortium on Urban Sanitation, included Use of Wastes, was recently inaugurated. In addition, all participants brought relevant information from their country, including sanitation and use of waste experiences; business approaches, including financial and institutional specifics (FIETS); training material; etc. All materials were shared and will be made available on the WASH website.

Participants shared experiences, built their capacity, agreed on a set of monitoring indicators, and initiated a WASH platform on the issue of Safe and productive use of solid and liquid waste for urban and peri-urban agriculture. In addition, the work plans for 2013 on the issue were adapted, and WASH alliance building continued.

Rene van Veenhuizen – RUAF Foundation