Dumpster Diving for Information

"Most of the really good stuff can be found in the sewer..."
Note: Posting written on 6/24/2009


Dear FF&B

It's official. Vanilla Restaurant is my favorite. My only wish is we had found this place before Jess left the country (definitely an improvement on atmosphere... same omelet plus a choice of chapatti). It was only by sheer luck I found this place. Jess left yesterday morning at 2AM (she had a 4AM flight). I had a meeting at MINIFRA (the Ministry of Infrastructure) near the embassies. Since they are off in Kacyiru (a place we only had the chance to visit once before), I took a bus back to town that I didn’t usually take. And – you guessed it – the Kacyiru buses stop right in front of Vanilla. Ahh... but don’t expect all my future posts to start with a love letter to Vanilla... this is the 2^nd and last time I'll be here.

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If it wasn't clear from the last post, the first several days in Kigali were eye opening for me. While I cannot speak for Jessica, my experience with government workers in Lusaka last summer was a little more frustrating. To be fair, I did not find contacts until my last days in Lusaka... and everyone was busy getting ready for the 85^th annual agricultural show (a BIG deal). Starting with a few meetings in Kigali was crucial. We got to hear early on what other contacts and efforts were going on in the country. And it was quite a lot!

Most of our early information came from the not-so-obvious domain of waste management. When 450 tons of waste get dumped at the only landfill for Kigali (Nyanza) AND an estimated 70% is organic material... well, there is room for collaboration and profit-making.

This is not a unilateral mental leap on my part. There are already a few cooperatives who perform waste collection services that also engage in compost and/or briquette production activities. The largest waste collection business (it converted to for-profit when tax breaks rand out in 2007/08) does not yet briquette as it is waiting for ongoing studies on briquette recipe performance to pan out, but COPED does produce compost and has instituted a waste separation pilot for its clients (upscale as they are expensive). But at least 2-3 other current cooperatives produce briquettes and another is looking for a new location so it can resume activities.

[IN PROGRESS UPDATE ON VANILLA: Had the same breakfast as yesterday -->TWICE AS GOOD! Maybe it’s because I fell asleep without dinner... but I'd better stop gushing about Vanilla now because I'm starting to blush!]

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Let me back up and explain the briquettes I mention above in comparison to the MIT process. Here, organic waste (chewed sugarcane stalks, banana peels, etc.) are dried in the sun, ground into powder, and mixed with water/binder to make fuel pellets or briquettes. No carbonization needed. As a result, these pellets do smoke a lot like firewood... and a special cookstove with a chimney is encouraged to reduce inhalation.

The MIT process is similar. But after drying the organic matter, it is lit on fire and sealed into a low oxygen environment (i.e., a sealed oil drum). This low oxygen environment keeps the material from burning to ash, instead turning into charcoal. (Similar to the earthen mounds used to make wood charcoal.) Then, the material is ground and mixed into briquettes. The carbonization reduces the smoke found in the kitchen and does not require any special stove to overcome this issue.

Regardless, learning about the cooperative activities plus some other commercial briquetting firms (currently in the planning stages) did give hope to me about the financial viability of our process. In addition, policy developments call for a continued improvement in waste management services (vis-à-vis separation and recycling through COPED and a better-planned landfill), research into fuel alternatives (including briquetting recipes), and other ongoing energy programs (efficiency of using resources, efficiency through stoves, increased energy resources via methane, etc.).

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The list of contacts continued to grow... but we were decidedly lacking on two fronts: agricultural specialists and specific fuel/forestry statistics. The first was important to ensure our selected supply source wasn't needed for compost. While the use of agri-waste was traditionally composted, most officials or contacts also suggested that as long as something wasn't used for another commercial use, it would be good to make into fuel. Charcoal prices are that high. But we worried about long-term soil quality and the implications on subsistence farming. Land is already at a premium (there is little-to-no new clearing for farming because the arable land is mostly taken now).

Also, fuel and forestry statistics at a regional level are not available. We're told that sectors don't report figures to districts nor districts to ministries, at least as they relate to wood cutting permissions or revenues. Only Kigali has had separate feasibility studies performed... as the economics are much bigger (150,000 tons of charcoal per year for the nation is 80-90% Kigali-based).

With our understanding of the situation as good as it would get at that point, we decided to get a move on to Gisenyi in the Rubavu District. From there, we would get to see a case study in COTRAPAE (the cooperative producing charcoal from banana leaves) and try to talk to contacts at the sector or district level.

To be continued...

Safe and Peaceful Journeys,
-Stan