Urban food-wasteEnergy nexus and the private sector

Reflecting on the food-energy nexus, my first thought went to the Haber–Bosch process. Perhaps no other human invention has had a more dramatic impact on our wellbeing and mother Earth than the Haber-Bosch chemistry. As the reader might know, and I am citing here largely from Wikipedia, the Haber-Bosch process is the main industrial procedure for the production of ammonia fertiliser today. It is named after its inventors, the German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who developed it in the first half of the 20th century

Rural-urban food, nutrient and virtual water flows in selected West African cities

Food consumption / Water quality / Nutrients / Urban agricuture / Food production

Water reuse in Africa: challenges and opportunities

Water reuseWastewater irrigationWastewater managementUrban agricultureUrbanisationFood securityPopulation growthWater supplySanitationParticipatory managementStakeholders

Informal irrigation in urban West Africa: An overview

Irrigated farming / Urban agriculture / Suburban agriculture / Farm size / Farming systems / Health hazards / Water pollution / Farm income

Social Perspectives on the Effective Management of Wastewater

The chapter discusses how adopting a holistic methodology that acknowledges sociological factors, including community participation, public involvement, social perception, attitudes, gender roles and public acceptance, would lead to improvements in wastewater management practice. It highlights the social dimension as a tool, a lens through which wastewater management and reuse can take on new dimensions. In this way, this chapter aims to shift the focus from perceiving wastewater as a nuisance that needs disposal, toward a resource not to be wasted, which can contribute to food security, human and environmental health, access to energy as well as water security

Pollution management in urban watersheds of developing countries

Pollution management in urban watersheds of developing countrie

Exploring implications of urban growth scenarios and investments for water supply, sanitation, wastewater generation and use in Accra, Ghana

Large cities in developing countries are challenged to meet steeply water demands and to dispose of wastewater safely in a context of urbanisation and poor water management and planning capacities. Urban water management has direct implications for water availability and sewage disposal in terms of quality and quantity. Studying the future implications and assessing the scale of impact of these processes starts with an understanding of the various water flows, supply and sewage infrastructure and uses of the water that is supplied to the city. It is argued that changes in water infrastructure and household water use and sanitation facilities at the city level has implications for upstream supply and demand management and downstream wastewater management. This paper explores this research area with a focus on Accra in Ghana. It is argued that the current situation in Accra shows a need and potential for improvement of water supply and wastewater treatment, however, through ways that do not require more concrete pipes

Wastewater irrigation and health: assessing and mitigating risk in low-income countries

Wastewater irrigation / Public health / Health hazards / Risk assessment / Epidemiology / Sewage sludge / Excreta / Diseases / Vegetables / Leaf vegetables / Economic impact / Wastewater treatment / Irrigation methods / Developing countries

Urban agriculture during economic crisis : Lessons from Cuba, Sri Lanka and Ukraine

Economic crises take different forms and occur for various reasons, such as political conflicts and pandemics. What all these crises have in common is that they cause disruption to rural-urban food supply chains, resulting in food shortages for the urban poor, with the most direct impact being an increase in food prices. It is within this challenging context that we present empirical examples of the role of urban agriculture