BIOGAS PRODUCTION: A COOL WAY TO GO GREEN

Biogas are produces in digesters and made from organic sources such as poultry dropping, pig and cattle droppings, water hyacinths and a host of others. Biogas plays an important role in farming  and our environment as a whole as it reduces health risks, control of pollution and at the same time adds value to the livestock excreta through it use in production of biogas and improved nutrient status of the effluent as fertilizer for fish ponds and crop land.

BIODIGESTERS

Biodigesters are used in production of biogas. Biodigesters convert organic wastes, mainly manure, into a nutrient rich liquid fertilizer and biogas (methane), a renewal source of electrical and heat energy. In addition to providing fuel, it offers an environmentally friendly way of treating waste. As waste is processed in a biodigester, it is sterilized by methane-producing bacteria and the high-methane environment; over 90% of protozoa, cysts and disease-causing bacteria, such as E. coli, are killed. The effluent that remains after gas production is a high quality organic fertilizer that can be safely used on food crops. Liquid fertilizer has a higher nutritional value than feedstock initially put in. Quality of crops improves dramatically after one year of using biodigester fertilizer. A biodigester is normally made out of concrete, metal or any other material that permits the anaerobic fermentation of organic materials.

ADVANTAGES OF THIS TECHNOLOGY

• Provide clean and renewal energy. Families use less firewood, decreasing deforestation, save money and have accessible fuel

• Reduce greenhouse gas emission. The combustion of biogas produces lower greenhouse gas emission than typical methane emission from a waste

• Reduce contamination of surface water, groundwater and other resources

• Reduce odours and pathogens

• Convert waste into high quality organic fertilizer. Families can obtain improved crop yields and save money

Lot of farmers in Uganda, Rwanda, India, Benin have uses the biogas technology effectively. And others can take a clue from it.

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Engaging Youth in Agricultural Development

Whatever we do has an impact on the planet, it could be good or bad. However as an individual we have the power to control most of our choices from where we live to what you buy or eat, to light our home, to how you shop or vote. We need to start reaping the benefits of going  green by conserving our forests and wildlife and engage in agriculture. Today I dedicate this blogpost to agriculture, particularly Youth in Agriculture.

Agriculture has the potential to change the way we eat and farm, and to revolutionize our relationship with the food on our planet. This sector is recognized as the most effective means to reduce poverty, especially in developing countries. Agriculture is identified as one of the four economic pillars. As pockets of poverty are concentrated in rural areas, achieving the MDG target of reducing the incidence of poverty by 50 % by 2015 will depend largely on poverty reduction in rural areas where agriculture is a major economic activity.

Youth can serve as an important focus group for rural development, especially in areas where the level of social capital is low and when institutional quality is poor. Focusing on the youth it is important to note that it stimulates sustainable agricultural development, which can improve social capital, reduce risk and stimulate economic growth.

In my young life, having been involved in international affairs and development, I have had the honor to engage with YPARD and meet young professionals in Agriculture from around the world. I have a dream to raise the importance of the need for more agricultural leaders and i believe many solutions to development issues will not be efficient without youth to make a positive impact on the environment and our community.

I have made this short video to encourage young people to make a lasting difference in Agriculture. We have enormous potential, fresh ideas, capacity that is often at the core of growth and rural development. We are the greatest generation, this is our moment, and this is our time! Together, we will transform the world, towards a better future.

CALL for ACTION: Climate Change Impacts in Asia`s Agriculture

Many people ask me about Climate Change, when they ask, they know it has something to do with pollution, car exhaust and changing weather. There is lot of information floating around this topic. 

Climate change projections and impact assessments are highly uncertain, not just because no model is currently able to accurately capture every complex socio - economic - ecological interaction and their future pathways under different mitigation scenarios, but also because of the uncertainty of the mitigation paths that will be pursued. Moreover, none of the current systems are comprehensive nor do they foster comparability or integration of data across sources.  Each national or international agency uses its own set of criteria to define its boundaries. It is important to note that assessing of climate change impacts needs to be analyzed at the more local level, incorporating country – specific characteristics.

Even if emissions from all sectors were reduced to zero, climate warming would continue for decades to come. In addition, climate change could become a significant constraint on economic development in developing countries that rely on agriculture for a substantial share of gross domestic production and employment. However, trying to understand the overall effect of climate change on different sectors can be difficult.

The aim of this blogpost is to highlight a significant impact on Asia`s agriculture and how it will influence agricultural production in the region.

Asia is the largest continent on Earth and spreads over four climatic zones (boreal, arid and semi-arid, tropical and temperate).  Land and ecosystems are being degraded, threatening to undermine food security.  The problem is expected to be severe in developing Asia where current information is poor, technological change has been slow, and the domestic economies depend heavily on agriculture.

More research is clearly needed to refine the estimates of impacts in this region and to identify potential adaptation options for farmers and governments.

Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change: higher temperatures eventually reduce yields of desirable crops while encouraging weed and pest proliferation. Changes in precipitation patterns increase the likelihood of short - run crop failures and long - run production declines. Developing countries in Asia are likely to face the highest reductions in agricultural potential in the world due to climate change.  More than 60 % of the economically active population and their dependents – which amounts to 2.2 billion people – rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Currently, a set of studies is underway in both Africa and Latin America to determine climate change impacts and adaptation opportunities in those regions. 

Therefore further empirical research needs to be done, in order to provide a more precise estimate to improve the accuracy of the analysis for Asia and what will happen to the region.

           

           We welcome your ideas and comments

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HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION GO GREEN

One of the key in ensuring sustainability in our effort to create a green environment now and in the near future is to get the little ones know the reason behind having a suitable environment now and in the future to come.

A practical way to do this is to create school gardens in primary schools. A school garden can take any number of forms: a raised bed in a schoolyard or an EarthBox in a classroom, a section of community garden blocks from school or a rooftop greenhouse, a flower bed bordering the school building or lettuce growing in water in a classroom. It can be simple or elaborate, involve a small number of students or a whole school, as well as parents and community neighbors.

OBJECTIVE OF THE GREEN GARDENS

1. To boost the interest of the kids in having a green surrounding from an early each.
2. To teach team work through practical agriculture.
3. To improve food production at the home front through the community as the children can replicate school gardens to backyard farms.
4. To teach children how to handle food safely.
5. Boost collaborative development in the kids.
6. To teach basic management skills-control, organization.
7. To provide an atmosphere for youths to discover the untapped revenue and resources in Agriculture

BENEFITS

·         the green garden would be a good platform to learn

• better nutrition and education for the children since is easy to manage by the students, teachers and parents possibly
• the gardening would promote environmental, social and physical well being of the school community
• it foster a better understanding of how the natural world sustains us
• the children gets to learn new skills ; teachers find new ways to teach
• create awareness about the organization promoting the project and their partners

By and large, starting early in impacting on the younger generation goes a long way in preparing them for a better future.

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EAT GREEN! THINK GREEN! BE GREEN! SAVE GREEN! GO GREEN!

This week I will dedicate my blog to the sustainable diets for the future. Whether you are vegetarian, vegan or meat eater, these are the foods that are good for you and good for our planet.  It is incredible how much “going green” can be incorporated into your everyday eating habits. Every day I continue to be amazed at the strong connection between health and sustainability. Our food choices have so much to do with the environment, our communities and well being.

 

Do you know that “low carbon” diet can minimize the carbon footprint when it comes to food intake?

Major tenets of  a low carbon diet include eating less industrial meat and dairy, eating less industrially produced food in general, eating food grown locally and seasonally, eating less processed and packaged foods and reducing waste form food by proper portion size, recycling and composting (Randy Hall, “Low Carbon Diet' Aims to Take Bite Out of Global Warming). A Carbon Diet is term that is used to describe making lifestyle and workplace changes for environmental sustainability. It encompasses travel, electricity, heating, food, and products and services. Basically “low carbon” diet refers to making choices about food that are more sustainable and reduce the impact on global warming. Our sustainable future is the right food choices, which are healthy and economically viable, with respect to farmers, workers and animals.

 

                                                            “Eat to live not live to eat”

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REUSING WOODS AND LEAVES – THE RAMIAL CHIP WOOD

Applying RCW on a seedbed

One of the key methods of going green is to reuse things around us. This week I write about an innovative method of reusing wood. This I learnt during my training at the Songhai Centre Port- Novo, Benin Republic. You can read about my Songhai Experience here. This very interesting method is referred to as Ramial Chip Wood Application (RCW).

RAMIAL CHIP WOOD (RCW)

Ramial chip woods are gotten from the crushing of stems, branches and leaves that are non- acidic for fertilization of the soil. The application of chipped wood is done to replicate the effect of natural falling leaves from a tree to the soil and the effect it has after decomposition. Non-acidic wood is said to be used here majorly and decomposition start at about 7 to 8 months. It should be noted that one could have 80% - 20% ratio of non- acidic to acidic wood.

Ramial chipped wood is considered the number one means of fertilizing the soil. There is also a secretion of various antibiotics from bacteria in the chip wood. This helps to protect crop from certain attacks.

Ramial chipped wood is not immediately functional. Thus it is good to mix the use of both RCW and compose. It actually takes 2-3 yrs to start fertilizing the soil. The interesting thing however is that research work shows that such soil fertilized by RCW remains same for another five (5) years.

BENEFITS OF RCW

·         Maintains soil humidity

·         Contributes to destroying weeds

·         Fertilization of the soil

·         Long time preservation of soil nutrients

·         Protection of crop from certain attacks.

·         A good material for mulching

It is however important to note that RCW result in carrying out deforestation especially when entire trees are cut down. Thus it is emphasis to replant after cutting down old tress.

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Growing benefits from forest carbon projects

Forests have a significant role within climate change, and their crucial role in climate change

mitigation and adaptation. It has a potential source of GHG, releasing CO₂ emissions; they also have great potential as sinks, removing CO₂ from the atmosphere, converting it to carbon, which is stored as biomass. Forests as a source of emissions aggravate climate change, while forests as a sink contribute to climate change mitigation. Forests are also sensitive to the effects of changes in temperature, precipitation and seasonal patterns, so their ecosystems are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. 

Forests provide a range of ecosystems services, which today have little direct cash - generating value, but do have significant indirect economic value to people`s livelihoods. The lack of a cash compensation for the benefits from ecosystem services leads to forest degradation and deforestation, often with disastrous environmental and social effects. Conversely, income from payments for ecosystem services, when appropriately structured, leads to the preservation and regeneration of forest resources. Carbon sequestration in forest systems is rapidly becoming the primary ecosystem service for which a sizeable market is emerging. A forest carbon credit represents either the removal of carbon from the atmosphere and storage in the form of biomass (e.g. wood and long – lived wood products). By combining carbon credits with poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation, other social co - benefits and non - carbon ecosystem functions are economically rewarded. The ecosystem service can be monetized as carbon credits, which can form a significant additional income stream. This income could make forestry community more viable in combining forest conservation and biodiversity with poverty reduction and environmental governance.

http://www.earthtimes.org/going-green/timber-plantations-forests/1683/

However, through the products and environmental services they provide, forests also help to make human populations less vulnerable to the damaging effects of climate change, and are therefore important in adaptation strategies, such as:

• The sustainable use of timber and non-timber forest products for alternative livelihoods;

• On-farm plantations for protection of watercourses and provision of shade and dry season fodder for livestock, and;

• Maintenance of biodiversity corridors as shifting seasonal patterns cause wildlife habitats to change. 

So there are many sound reasons why forests have become increasingly linked with efforts to address climate change over recent years.

Photo by worldwildlife.org

Growing or establishing forests can help to combat climate change through absorbing CO₂ from the atmosphere, storing carbon in various carbon pools, and, once they leave the forest, in harvested wood products. Forest owners and managers can accelerate this process by managing and conserving existing forest areas, or by creating new ones. A carbon offset projects would be a strong step forward for the preservation of forest resources, forestry projects and the livelihood of the people.

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Act today! Tomorrow will be too late…

A world in which poverty and inequity are endemic will always be prone to ecological and other crises. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development is about finding better ways of doing things, both for the present and future. We need to solve today`s global challenges to have a better tomorrow. Nowadays weface several development challenges: floods, droughts, food shortage, poor access to energy and more.

What can we do?

Invest in Energy efficiency: Investing in efficiency is critical to meeting future demand and mitigation climate change. It reduces GHG and improves productivity. Investing in energy efficiency can save significant amounts of money in a short time. This sector also provides a range of new jobs and income opportunities including advisors, engineers, researches and many more.

Reduce Deforestation: Deforestation is the second leading contributor of carbon emission worldwide. Ending deforestation and protecting forests will not only preserve biodiversity and defend the rights of forest communities, but it is also one of the quickest and cost effective ways of curbing global warming.

Confront water stress:  Water scarcity affects every continent of the globe. According to the World Bank about 700 million people in 43 countries are under water stress. It is important to ensure healthy, secure and sustainable water for our communities, environment and economy - our quality of life depends on it.

Support agriculture and agribusiness: One billion people around the world still live in extreme poverty. Agriculture growth and productivity remains central to poverty reduction, particularly in the poorest countries, where a large share of the population relies on agriculture and agribusiness for their livelihood.

Address long-term needs for food security: Food security is an outcome of livelihoods, therefore it is essential to support and protect livelihoods as well as help vulnerable meet their immediate basic needs for food.

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ARE YOU LIVING SUSTAINABLY?

LIVING SUSTAINABLY WOULD MEAN MAKING EVERYDAY GREEN

With all the pressure on our environment, climate and our surrounding it is important that everyone starts to think sustainability. Sustainability can however not come about if we do not begin to live a sustaining lifestyle. You might begin to wonder what I mean by that.

In the a report on Sustainable living by the St’ Luke’s University in Canada, it explains “sustainable living is making conscious choices in everyday life and begin aware that you are making a choice when you leave the tap running while brushing your teeth, or while shopping for groceries’’. It thus requires a conscious effort on the part of each individual to live a sustaining life.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING – PRACTICAL WAYS

1.      AT HOME – The home is the starting point. Charity begins at home. The home front provides amble opportunity to practice sustainable living. Here are a few ways

·         Hang your cloths dry rather than using a dryer

·         Cover pots when cooking

·         Use energy saving bulbs

·         Turn off lights when not in use

·         If you use an heater or air conditioning system, don’t heat or cool an empty house

·         Shut off water when soaping during a shower or brushing your teeth

2.      RESPONSIBLE BUYING- When making decisions on where to make purchases you also have to think sustainability. You have to think different and weigh your options properly. These could include if possible buying locally. Local products help reduce transportation costs and environmental impacts while contributing to the local economy. Aside from this purchasing clothing made completely or partly form sustainable materials can support the agricultural industries.

3.      WASTE REDUCTION- This involves using fewer materials in the home, office, and school. Recycling is closely related to this. Recycling and waste reduction protects our environment because it reduces the demand on land fill space and it is also good for the economy of any country.

4.      TRANSPORTATION- One key way to reduce the carbon footprint on our environment is sustainable transportation. This allows the basic of individuals to be met without putting the future generation at risk of not meeting the same need. Here are some tips;

·         Use the public transport instead of your car thus reducing fuel use and harmful emissions

·         Carpool with your friends and colleagues. This reduces the number of cars on the road and road congestion too.

·         If you can why don’t you cycle or skate to work

·         Buy vehicles with a record of fuel efficiency

We need to secure our environment both for our use and that of the generations to come. We need to remain healthy and strong. And we can only achieve this when and if we GOGREEN so we can STAY COOL.

Follow these tips and you can be sure of a better life.

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WAYS TO REUSING AND RECYCLING AGRICULTURAL WASTE

Moving waste material to the compost production unit.

I look back this week to my days training at the Songhai Centre in Porto Novo, Republic of Benin. And as I do this, I cannot but look back at how what a lot of materials from agricultural production are reused or recycled.  I would also highlight some practical ways that I have come about in my studies as a Young Professional in Agricultural Research for Development.

1.       Animal Dung and poultry droppings: These two wastes both from animals such as pigs and cattle and droppings from layers or broilers are very useful in the production of biogas. In third world countries like Nigeria where I come from, the cost of power (electricity) is high and irregularity in supply. Thus Biogas is a very good means of generating power. Biogas can be used for cooking and even electricity generation.

2.       Bark of ginger – I found this very thrilling when I first came across it. I was working in the agro processing section. Each time we were to produce ginger juice; we had to peel the gingers. But we didn’t just throw away the bark, we grinded it into powder and used as seasoning in the meat and fish processing unit where it is used in grilling. This results in a very sweet taste and aroma when you eat. Individuals in food processing can take a clue from this.

3.       Water Hyacinths: even though this is seen as a harmful plant or sea weed, it has it usefulness when used. Water hyacinths can be used to detoxify water bodies in enclosed areas. More specifically I recall chopping large quantity of water hyacinth for biogas production. It is mixed with the droppings and dung in biogas production.

4.       Cocoa Shells:  once the beans have been shelled. The empty shell can be dried in the sun or drying machines and then ground in a mill to a powder. This can then in turn be fed to livestock. This shell contains theobromine, fat, vitamin D and has a better nutritional output. Research shows that the cocoa shell flour may be served as a substitute to maize to feed poultry, cattle and pigs up to 35% of their ration. The milled shell can also be used as crop fertilizer.

5.       Feed residues from Grass cutter rearing; when grass cutters eat they usually leave behind bits from their feed especially when given guinea grass. This residue is used in Maggot production for fish farming. This residue is mixed with waste from the abattoir and used to serve as an attractant for houseflies which in turn lay eggs to form maggots after 72hours.

By and large, it is clear how if we look critically into agriculture we discover that the so called waste can be reused to do so many practical things that would not only help reduce waste but also increase productivity and cut down cost.

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