 .:ZERO WASTE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT PROJECT SYNOPSIS
|
Location: Kitu Village, Majengo, Shauri Moyo and Environs, KENYA.
HELP is working with an array of partners in city and national government, along with twenty-one new women’s groups * and three super CBOs to implement a zero waste community management strategy. The project is making low technology recycling and manufacturing plants available to utilize virtually 100% of the seven most common wastes including: toilet, plastics, paper, food, plant fiber, charcoal debris, cloth, animal hair. In addition, the zero waste project intends on utilizing composted food wastes and posts made from recycled plastic to fence and forest the river margin with orchard and carving stock trees for carefully controlled harvesting by Stream bank Stewardship Women Self Help Groups.
The project objective is to empower marginalized women by helping them access profitable home use technologies AND by assisting them to have the first start at dominating new industries in the zero waste sector.
Home Use Technologies Made Available
Four Home Use Zero Waste Technologies Made Available to Each Group of Five Households forming a Self-Help Group:
a) One separator toilet (per five households group) paid for discharging into fertilizer tanks.
b) One Rainwater Harvesting/Cistern per group
c) One Fireless Cooker and one Low Energy Jiko per group
d) One Waste Food Composter per group
e) Solar and Micro Hydro Generated Energy for Lighting
PLUS
Income Generating Zero Waste Manufacturing Businesses for Self Help Groups
Each of the women’s self help groups are selecting one of the following technologies to engage in on an industrial scale with five or more other self-help groups:
1) Plastic Post and Lumber Production
2) Briquette Manufacture (cooking fuel briquettes from waste charcoal, sawdust, paper, plant fiber)
3) Hand Made Paper and Fiber Board Manufacture
4) Clay Ring Jiko Manufacture
5) Fireless Cooker Manufacture
6) River Margin Protection Activities with Income Generating Components
*Twenty-one groups have been formed as of February 15, 2003.
Technical Partners
Nairobi City Planning Department
NCPD and HELP worked together since 1997 to put together a Slum Conversion Strategy of which Zero Waste Community Management/Environmental Renewal is one facet.
[The second facet is Human Settlement (Housing, Home Associations, Tenure, Broad based Credit Facilities, Zoning and other Facilities for Business, Common Community Facilities)]
NCPD has arranged the following under the partnership:
a) Land for new housing development
b) Land for school construction
c) River Margin Access for Stream Protection Activities.
d) Alternative toilet and other waste management systems Agreement
e) Site survey, technical drawings and researchers for field surveys.
Ministry of Forests
The program fits well with the Ministry’s Urban Forrestation Program. The first 5,000 trees, planted from seed in March, 2002, in two new project nurseries with the projects two super CBOs (Nairobi Handicraft Society and Pumwani Child Survival School PTA) are now ready for planting on the river margin.
KEFRI
KEFRI introduced the fireless cooker and clay ring jiko to the project and is expanding its involvement in project monitoring and research and assisting with tree stock procurement.
Super CBOs as Extension Agents and Exhibition Areas for Zero Waste
Nairobi Handicraft Society has been chosen as an extension agent and exhibition area training centre for Nursery Development, River Margin Protection Strategies, plus for all seven Zero Waste Technologies. The NHS will act as an extension nursery to provide trees to women’s groups not capable of creating their own tree nurseries.
The Pumwani Child Survival School will be the second Extension Agent and Exhibition Area. The school’s new environmental curriculum will educate the school children who, along with the school’s zero waste exhibition area will be an extension agent to the children’s parents.
All women’s groups receive training at the NHS centre and participate in the environmental curriculum at the Pumwani Child Survival School.
How Women’s Groups Will Access Technologies
HELP will provide market assistance to women’s groups that will provide the income for the groups to access the home technologies as well as the industrial level production plants. For example, the five women’s groups who desire to produce plastic posts are requesting assistance in acquiring the low-tech Ksh 80,000 plastic post plant. HELP does not give charity nor loans, but will give a purchase advance for 800 posts (3 x 6 x 200 cm) @ Ksh 100 each post.
Also, HELP is providing a trading centre where women creating the five technologies plus orchard fruit can come and trade for products already purchased from other women’s groups. So HELP is providing a guaranteed market for most production during the first three years. (Orchard Fruit Production will be the only item not provided with market guarantee by HELP)
Project Governance
A Development Working Group of Shared-Risk Stakeholders made up of the following meet monthly to evaluate progress and set new goals and direction for the project.
Twenty Two Newly Formed Women Home Associations
Pumwani Child Survival PTA
Pumwani Child Survival Teachers Association
Kamukunji Jua Kali Association
Nairobi Handicraft Society
Wananchi Traders and Hawkers Association
Nairobi Adult Street Boys Association
Student Environmental Society
Ministry of Forests
NCPD/NISCC
HELP International
| 
