Mon, 02/26/2018
Last
year, I attended the African Great Lakes Conference in Entebbe, Uganda, joining
over 300 specialists who presented on a wide range of water issues. The
highlight of the conference, for me, was visiting the Integrated Community
Environmental Conservation project in Arul village, Kigungu, in Entebbe.
The project aims to reduce bio-diversity loss, pollution of international
waters of Lake Victoria, land degradation, and address some effects of climate
change. The fact that the project was managed by a women’s empowerment network
made the prospects of the visit more interesting. Mainstreaming gender in
environmental and conservation work is an issue that needs to be addressed.
We
arrived in Arul village, Kigungu, in the afternoon. The Kigungu area was a
place where wetlands had been polluted, contaminated, and devastated by illegal
sand mining, poor waste management, and climate change, among other issues.
However, since 2006, the Integrated Community Environmental Conservation
project has been addressing these issues.
A Sustainable Fish Pond
In the village, we visited a community pond filled with tropical fish. The pond
was created to promote sustainable fishing practices and self-sufficiency in
food production. For example, the tropical fish were used for local food
production with the surplus fish stock sold in the local market as a small
business venture which earned local women a small wage. The pond is also used
to reduce over fishing in Lake Victoria.
Local
fishermen enter the pond and demonstrate sustainable fishing practices
The
fish pond is reaping benefits for the local community – a good practice that
should be replicated in other local villages. However, as a trained
environmental auditor, I had concerns over the quality of the water which
appeared muddy and slightly dark in color. In my field of work, it is
recommended that the pond water is green in color; deep dark colors should be
avoided to gain good fish yield. The color of the pond water is usually a good
indicator of the quality of the water. The deterioration of the water quality
of the pond may be in its early stages. Without testing the water quality, it
is difficult to assess; but the color indicates that the pond is in need of
monitoring to evaluate whether the water quality may, if untreated, affect the
fish stock. To ensure that the fish pond continues to produce local food for
self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner, water quality monitoring and
maintenance is essential to continue the success story.
Ecological
Sanitation Toilets
The success story of conservation in this village continues, when we visited
the ecological sanitation toilets. We learned that there was a water shortage
in the village, which was multiplied by a high-water table which causes groundwater
contamination. Due to these circumstances the women’s network decided to build
ecological sanitation toilets, since these toilets can function within a closed
system which does not require water.
After visiting an ecological sanitation toilet, I must say it is another good
practice, a beacon of excellence in conservation that addresses the challenge
and relationship between water shortage and sanitation. We discussed the
principle of using this new technology, where the nutrients in the waste is
recycled to create manure and fertilizer for agriculture, improving soil
productivity for small-scale farmers. This vital technology was used to train
three hundred local community members in the use and maintenance of the system.
It was quite impressive.
But it also occurred to me that the nature of these new ecological sanitation
toilets means they will require routine checks, monitoring, and regular
training as well as sustainable policies and laws and regulations to enforce
such actions.
According to the UN Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and
drinking water, in Uganda, there are neither national standards for
monitoring sanitation and drinking water, nor independent tests on water
quality
A
community ecological sanitation toilet - a model of good practice in
conservation.
What is
the future for these innovative conservation water and sanitation projects
without adequate monitoring, measuring, analysis, and evaluation? How will
these projects be measured for environmental performance? How will their
success story be sustainable without monitoring and evaluation?
The upfront initial investment in water conservation projects is going well,
and making a difference across Africa, but long-term monitoring and evaluation
needs to be put in place as well. There is evidence that some projects started
out as beacons of excellence in conservation tend to need extra investment in
monitoring and evaluation to continue the success story.
Fadeke Ayoola is the CEO of NET Africa.
