Climate change advocates transform communities for a more sustainable future
Recycling Water Hyacinth as a source of green energy
One green innovation is blooming in a corner of the Bwaise Slum. The team, Erudites Movement is passionately addressing the livelihood issues of communities on Lake Victoria in Uganda through the production of renewable energy with troublemaking water hyacinths.
The team was established through the Youth Innovation Challenge for Climate Change by Outbox in support of UNICEF in 2023. The Challenge aimed to empower interested young advocates for climate change to develop and implement green solutions. Based on the i-UPSHIFT methodology, the Challenge started with the Inspiration Workshop, inviting the selected participants to join a 3-day intensive bootcamp. Through the pitch event, the selected teams proceeded to the four months of intensive mentorship period where they received further technical and financial support to develop and implement the solutions. Through participation in the Challenge, the team has successfully identified the issue they want to address, and designed and built a prototype innovative solution.
18 per cent of Uganda's land surface is covered by water bodies with the water hyacinth firmly established on its major water bodies Lake Kyoga, Albert, Lake Victoria and along River Nile. Its dense mat not only hinders navigation across the water affecting fishing activities but also lowers the transfer of oxygen from the air to the water surface, competes with the native aquatic species for oxygen consequently lowering available dissolved oxygen in the water affecting marine life. It is also a breeding place for mosquitoes attributing to high incidences of malaria in communities.
Furthermore, it affects water levels through siltation which fouls the breeding, nesting, and nursery grounds of inshore fishes. Reports reveal that it has consequently reduced fish stocks on Lake Victoria by up to 46 per cent. Further still, as the weeds die, organic debris accumulates at the bottom of the water body creating shallow water environments less suitable for fish growth. Its ability to lower oxygen dissolution into the water lowers available dissolved oxygen in the water. The underlying water column often contains little or no oxygen resulting in high methane production rates and high methane emission intensities. Studies have revealed higher greenhouse gas-methane emissions of up to 20-22 per cent in water zones invaded by the hyacinth than those in hyacinth-free areas.
Composed of diverse backgrounds, including a university graduate in agriculture, a resident of Bwaise – a slum in Uganda’s capital city Kampala – and a law student, the team identified a creative solution that reduces the negative impact and brings the social impact. They harvest the water hyacinths first from the water and instead of dumping them, convert them into an alternative energy source to meet the cooking needs of the community, while generating feeds and fertilizer from the weeds to also benefit the community. Every 1 kilogram of hyacinth can generate approximately 376 liters of biogas when fed into a biogas digester. Ten liters of crushed hyacinth fed into a digester can generate biogas able to cook for up to 8 hours per day. The bio-digestion process of the hyacinth gives off bio slurry one of which is a methane-rich and effective fertilizer in agricultural fields.
Only 42 per cent of the population in Uganda has access to an electricity grid to utilize it to meet their energy needs. In Kampala city, 77 per cent of households still employ charcoal and firewood to meet their energy cooking solutions. Particularly communities residing along water bodies still rely on firewood and charcoal to meet their cooking needs. On one landing site in Uganda Port Bell, heaps of firewood are piled up a few meters away from the water ready for sale evidence of the gap in the cooking sector. With their venture, the community can especially benefit by reducing their reliance on firewood and charcoal by 80 per cent by availing cheap, accessible, and affordable biogas to meet their cooking needs.
The team tested the solution and proved that it could work. Through the partnership with the Joint Energy and Environment Project (JEEP), a plant was set up into which they subjected the water hyacinth under anaerobic digestion to give off gas. However, due to the high costs involved especially with acquiring a work site from which to operate, they had to identify a location to set up the plant. In the end, they identified and partnered with Mr. Kimbugwe Hussein a resident of Bwaise, with an abundance of water hyacinth in the streams and waterways. The team and Mr. Hussein agreed to share the set-up and maintenance costs.
After 14 days, biogas was given off from the biogas plant and piped directly to Mr. Hussein’s kitchen. This could cook for up to 8 consecutive hours and feed his family of 12 people without supplementing it with any other fuel source. Using the biogas saved him over Ugx 7,000 a day since he would spend over Ugx 15,000 on charcoal and firewood daily otherwise. The team also tested other products such as organic fertilizers for agricultural plants and feeds for cows and chickens and found both were very effective.
The team Erudites Movement’s vision is a future where this invasive weed becomes a source of prosperity, restoring the environment and improving livelihoods. With their venture, communities living along water hyacinth-infested areas will not only have improved fish yields, and access to safe water for human consumption but also reduced the prevalence of diseases such as malaria because hyacinth acts as breeding places for the mosquitoes. There will also be a creation of green jobs, especially during the harvesting, processing, and packaging of the products.
“School doesn't prepare us for life after graduation. As recent graduates and some still in school, we experience the brunt of unemployment and shortage of income to meet basic daily needs even in the service of our passion for climate change,” said Amanda Ethol Baggaga, the team leader of the Erudites Movement.
“By exercising the i-UPSHIFT methodology throughout the process of the Youth Innovation Challenge, I particularly honed my critical thinking skills. It enabled me and my teammates to identify the most important issue to focus on, understand the needs of the most affected people in our communities and formulate and implement the best, most viable and innovative solution to solve the issue perpetuating the bigger problem of climate change.”
It is imperative to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of these young green entrepreneurs and the transformative solutions they have brought to life. The i-UPSHIFT unleashes the potential of youth-driven innovation and offers a beacon of hope as we navigate the path towards a greener, more sustainable future.
The Erudites Movement has won the Global Challenge of imaGen Ventures 2023, a global initiative that aims to nurture a critical mass of young entrepreneurs dedicated to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It forms a part of Generation Unlimited (GenU), a leading global Public-Private-Youth Partnership that co-creates and delivers innovative solutions on a global scale launched by the UN Secretary-General at the 2018 UN General Assembly.
As the global winner’s award, the team will receive incubation funds and mentorship support from local and global experts to scale up their green innovation for wider social impact.
