Integrated process for sustainable agro-process waste treatment and climate change mitigation in Eastern Africa

Research Article published by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) November 2011Eastern Africa countries are faced with similar development challenges including high population growth rate, low agricultural productivity, increasing number of agro-processing industries, pollution and contamination of water sources by agro-processing industrial wastes, inadequate energy supplies and climate change effects such as extreme drought and flooding. It is therefore imperative to address these challenges in an integrated and regional manner, in which key stakeholders including the public and private sectors are actively engaged. The goal of this Consortium is to contribute to climate change mitigation, environmental sustainability, and agricultural development by applying strategic waste management innovation systems in Eastern Africa (focussing on Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda). Specifically the project aims to: (1) Strengthen capacity to sustainably manage agro-process wastewater in Eastern Africa; (2) Develop and optimize innovative wastewater treatment processes integrating biogas production and water/nutrient reuse for enhanced industrial and agricultural productivity in Eastern Africa and; (3) Evaluate and disseminate the economic, environmental and social benefits of the integrated wastewater treatment bioprocesses. We will achieve our objectives by use of appropriate technologies that will be designed, developed and optimized to achieve: (1) better treatment of agro-process wastewaters (slaughterhouse, tannery and Banana wine processing wastewaters) in Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania, respectively and; (2) generation of useable by-products such as biogas, bio-fertilizers, and agricultural products (vegetables, flowers, animal feed/pasture grass) from wastewater treatment processes. Through this integrated wastewater treatment approach, we will contribute to environmental, social and economic development of Eastern African countries including reduction in pollution and contamination of water sources receiving agro-processing wastewaters, reduction in incidences of water related diseases such as diarrhoea, reductions in emission of greenhouse gases (GHG); generation of renewable energy source (biogas), slow down the rate of deforestation for firewood and charcoal, reduce indoor air pollution (IAP) and respiratory diseases since Biogas burns smoke free, and improve agricultural productivity by provision bio-fertilizers. The proposed Consortium hinges on lessons learned from the successes and challenges of previous SIDA/SAREC projects in Eastern Africa, especially BIO-EARN programme phase 3 which carried out treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater at City Abattoir (Uganda) and tannery wastewater at Modjo Tannery (Ethiopia). Whereas the project treated these industrial wastewaters, they were not economically sustainable because they did not addvalue to wastes by integrating hydroponic systems for vegetables and flowers cultivation, production of useable byproducts such as biogas and bio-fertilizers into the treatment process to make it sustainable. The proposed Environmental Innovation Project Consortium II comprises of scientists from Waste Stabilization Ponds (WSP) & Constructed Wetland Research and Development group (University of Dar Es Salaam - UDSM), Department of Biochemistry (Makerere University - MAK), School of Graduate Studies University of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia - AAU), National University of Rwanda (NUR), and AKUT Burkard and Partner (Germany, www.akut-umwelt.de, AKUT). The private sector partners involved in this consortium include Bassajabalaba Hides and Skins - City Abattoir (Uganda), Modjo Tannery, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and Banana Investments Ltd, Arusha, (Tanzania). Each scientific partner contributes technical skills, experiences and synergies to the Consortium: UDSM has engineers with technical experiences in constructed wetland technologies; AKUT Partner has experience in designing and installation of industrial scale biogas digester plants; MAK and AAU have experiences in operation of reactors and constructed wetlands treating slaughterhouse and tannery wastewaters, respectively. On the other hand, Bassajabalaba Hides and Skins, City Abattoir (Uganda) and Modjo, Tannery (Ethiopia) both have over four years (2006-2010) experience in operation of integrated technologies treating high strength slaughterhouse and tannery wastewaters, respectively, under the SIDA/SAREC supported BIO-EARN project. Whereas Banana Investments Ltd, Arusha (Tanzania) have not participated in similar arrangements, they have committed strong technical, financial and in kind support towards the success of the proposed Consortium project. The proposed Consortium project is anticipated to run on budget of USD 1,199,684 over a period of three years (2011 -2013)

Imaging and photogrammetry models of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A high-resolution digital database for research and conservation of Early Stone Age sites

This paper presents the first aerial mapping of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and photogrammetric techniques, to provide a detailed digital cartographic basis for this world-renowned paleoanthropological site. The survey covered an area of 32 km2 of Olduvai Gorge, and through the use of aerial photos and ground control points from Global Navigation Satellite Systems, an orthomosaic and Digital Surface Model, with a higher than 5 cm/pixel ground resolution, were produced. The Digital Surface Model was then denoised to calculate a Digital Elevation Model, and a high-resolution imaging model of Olduvai Gorge was generated. A preliminary morphometric characterization using Geographic Information Systems shows the potential of this approach when analysing multiple topographic variables in large areas of paleoanthropological relevance, including production of a new map template for Olduvai Gorge and new data for the investigation of sedimentary and tectonic processes. These results constitute one of the first attempts to obtain high quality imagery from large geographic areas amenable to Early Stone Age research, and introduce new workflows for the creation of Digital Elevation Models. Overall, the digital dataset produced is intended to support archaeological and geological investigation in this area, and provide new monitoring tools for the conservation of cultural heritage

Association mapping of stem rust race TTKSK resistance in US barley breeding germplasm

KEY MESSAGE: Loci conferring resistance to the highly virulent African stem rust race TTKSK were identified in advanced barley breeding germplasm and positioned to chromosomes 5H and 7H using an association mapping approach. ABSTRACT: African races of the stem rust pathogen (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) are a serious threat to barley production worldwide because of their wide virulence. To discover and characterize resistance to African stem rust race TTKSK in US barley breeding germplasm, over 3,000 lines/cultivars were assessed for resistance at the seedling stage in the greenhouse and also the adult plant stage in the field in Kenya. Only 12 (0.3 %) and 64 (2.1 %) lines exhibited a resistance level comparable to the resistant control at the seedling and adult plant stage, respectively. To map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to race TTKSK, an association mapping approach was conducted, utilizing 3,072 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. At the seedling stage, two neighboring SNP markers (0.8 cM apart) on chromosome 7H (11_21491 and 12_30528) were found significantly associated with resistance. The most significant one found was 12_30528; thus, the resistance QTL was named Rpg-qtl-7H-12_30528. At the adult plant stage, two SNP markers on chromosome 5H (11_11355 and 12_31427) were found significantly associated with resistance. This resistance QTL was named Rpg-qtl-5H-11_11355 for the most significant marker identified. Adult plant resistance is of paramount importance for stem rust. The marker associated with Rpg-qtl-5H-11_11355 for adult plant resistance explained only a small portion of the phenotypic variation (0.02); however, this QTL reduced disease severity up to 55.0 % under low disease pressure and up to 21.1 % under heavy disease pressure. SNP marker 11_11355 will be valuable for marker-assisted selection of adult plant stem rust resistance in barley breeding. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-014-2297-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Performance of inclined plates settler integrated with constructed wetland for high turbidity water treatment

This research article published by IWA Publishing, 2021The purpose of this study was to investigate and demonstrate cost-effective treatment technologies for high turbid waters, used for domestic purposes in rural areas of Tanzania where conventional community water treatment techniques are not available. Pilot scale inclined plates setter integrated with constructed wetland (IPS-CW) system was investigated on earth dam water with turbidities ranging from 186 to 4,011 NTU. The IPS was used as a physical pretreatment system preceding the CW, meant for the removal of organic matter, nutrients, and pathogens. Major focus of the IPS-CW system was on turbidity and faecal coliform (FC) removal and at 5 L/min flow rate mean maximum removal efficiency of 95.9% and 94.3% were achieved, respectively. Total suspended solids, nitrate (NO3 ), ammonium, biological oxygen demand (BOD5) and phosphate removal were studied and removal efficiencies of 97.4%, 91.7%, 71.3%, 91.7% and 49.8% were obtained at 5 L/min flow rate, respectively. Although the use of these combinations of technologies in improving drinking water quality is uncommon, results demonstrated that NO3 and BOD5 met WHO and TBS drinking water standards of 50 mg/l and 6 mg/L respectively. Due to low production cost and simplicity in operation the system is relevant for application in rural communities

Computational dynamics of solid waste generation and treatment in the presence of population growth

This research article was published in Asian Journal of Mathematics and Applications, 2014Solid waste management is a global challenge and the situation is worse in urban areas of the developing countries where, in most cases, there are no data of how much solid waste is generated over a specific period of time. Worse still, solid waste continues to pile up as population continues to grow and authorities in developing countries are increasingly becoming unable to manage the waste. This calls for a means for anticipating the solid waste to be generated in order for the authorities to take proactive actions in managing the solid waste. In this paper, a deterministic compartmental mathematical model that can be used to predict the amount of solid waste generation and treatment needed with population growth as major factor is proposed and analysed qualitatively using the stability theory of differential equations. Numerical simulation is performed to validate the qualitative results

Genetic diversity study of Kenyan cassava germplasm using simple sequence repeats

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Cranzt) is an important food security crop for resource poor rural communities particularly in Africa. Little is however known about molecular diversity of Kenyan cassava germplasm. This led to a study whose objective was to identify genetic constitution of cassava accessions from different regions of Kenya using molecular tools. Seven pairs of micro satellite (SSR) primers previously developed from cassava were used to detect polymorphic 21 alleles in a sample of 69 accessions. The cluster analysis of similarity matrix obtained at 68% with SSR data showed that the 69 accessions were grouped into five marker based groups. This study proved that SSRs could be used to identify cassava accessions as well as in the assessment of level of genetic relatedness among accessions.Keywords: Cassava, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, genetic diversity

Application of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor integrated with constructed wetland for treatment of banana winery effluent

This research article was published in Water Practice and Technology Journal,Volume 12, Issue 3, 2017Agroprocessing constitutes sizeable industries in the Eastern Africa region discharging wastes into the environment. Proper management of industrial waste is perceived as expensive and enforcement of laws is weak. Generally, there is low awareness of environmental and socio-economic consequences of polluting the environment. The Banana Investment Limited (BIL) in Arusha Tanzania which produces banana wine from ripe bananas was discharging untreated wastewater into the environment. This project aimed at treating the BIL wastewater to meet environmental standards and recover nutrients, water and energy. The feeding wastewater to the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) with flow rate of 62.4 m3/d had concentrations (mg/L) of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (4,959.3 ± 388.7), BOD5 (1,453.7 ± 110.3), total suspended solids (TSS) (2,431.0 ± 190.5), NH4+ (7.2 ± 1.1), NO3− (23.4 ± 3.2), PO43− (5.12 ± 0.73), volatile fatty acid (0.60 ± 0.09), and Alkalinity (60.00 ± 8.98). After 17 months of operation the system achieved removal efficiencies (%) of COD (99.0), BOD5 (98.6), TSS (96.0), NO3− (88.7), PO43− (50.8). There was a net generation of NH4+ (387.8%) in the system. The biogas produced in the UASB is collected at a rate of 163 m3/d and is used in the boiler at BIL. The dried sludge and the treated water are used for irrigation. The study concluded that integrating the bio-digestion process with polishing stage for water, nutrient and energy recovery ensures compliance to environmental law and provides incentive to treat wastewater while also mitigating greenhouse gases