KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - A beer making company in Rwanda is now producing energy from wastewater organic pollutants to power its boiler equipment.

The Skol Brewery has partnered with the Global Water Engineering (GWE) to turn wastewater organic pollutants into biogas for internal use while achieving high environmental benefits.

Rwanda has a strong need for sustainable technologies, with the World Health Organisation’s African Regional Office identifying, “Rwanda undoubtedly faces significant environmental challenges, and needs to invest significantly in adapting to current climate challenges as well as in adaptation to future climate change.”

Water shortages are also a significant problem in Rwanda, with water needs in Kigali city being only met at 50% or less especially in dry season in a city with urbanization growth rate of more than 9% annually.

Skol Brewery Rwanda’s new installation, incorporating some of the world’s most efficient and proven GWE waste-to-energy technologies, aligns Skol Brewery with top international environmental wastewater standards and demonstrates the company is taking important action to ensure the sustainability of its operations, says GWE Chairman and CEO Mr Jean Pierre Ombregt.

The new process at the Kigali plant involves GWE’s globally distributed anaerobic waste digestion technology proven in more than 150 waste-to-green energy plants worldwide, including dozens of breweries. The technology not only improves sustainability outcomes, but also decreases operating costs.

The anaerobic digestion technology is also integral to 415 high quality industrial wastewater and waste treatment plants in 62 countries, the benefits of which are applicable to any food and beverage, agribusiness or manufacturing operation with one or more organically loaded wastewater and waste streams.

Skol Kigali’s new continuous system – which replaces an old sequential batch reactor – highly efficiently removes organic waste material from production wastewater, converting more than 90 per cent of the wastewater’s Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). The new wastewater treatment plant is a reliable method of turning organic waste into usable biogas.

This organic material is transformed into biogas (mainly methane) to replace the need for an equivalent amount of fossil fuel to power the plant boilers equipment, while the treated wastewater effluent leaving the plant delivers high environmental benefits through achieving discharge limits of 250mg/L COD.

The new process – now successfully in its first full year of operation – begins with pre-treatment, followed by a modern treatment line utilizing GWE’s robust ANUBIX™-B system at the heart of the operation. A sludge management and dewatering unit is also used to process any excess sludge.

“The methane-rich biogas produced by the ANUBIX™ process is reused to power an existing boiler unit, replacing baseline power requirements, which is a further benefit to the brewery,” said Mr Ombregt.

“Breweries, and other food and beverage companies, are often literally flushing money down the drain in the form of wastewater. They are spending money to treat or dispose of their waste water, when they could be treating it as a resource and turning waste water into a profitable source of energy,” he said.

Because it is a continuous system, green energy can continue to be generated consistently. This base load green energy capacity represents a further major advance on the plant’s previous Sequence Batch Reactor system. The new GWE system handles wastewater inlet quantities of 920 m3 per day.

The upgraded plant has a capacity of 3220 kg/d of organic matter, or Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) load. Inlet COD concentration is 3500 mg/L and the COD effluent discharge limit is 250 mg/L, with the GWE process removing more than 92% of COD and radically improving the effluent water quality, meaning that Skol Brewery has a minimal impact on local water systems.

“Using this sort of technology to not only treat wastewater and turn it into green energy, but also to power existing boilers or otherwise utilise the additional biogas is becoming increasingly common as forward-thinking companies strive to meet sustainability initiatives and minimise their negative impacts on the environment. Larger anaerobic treatment installations can even generate additional profit in perpetuity, because excess biogas or energy can be sold back to the grid.” said Mr Ombregt.

Developing countries like Rwanda are highly aware of the need for sustainability, and are increasingly implementing technologies to safeguard the environment and precious natural resources like water.

While there is still a long way to go – and this applies to everyone, globally – early adopters of environmentally harmonious technologies like Skol Brewery will pave the way for further advances in energy-efficiency that will benefit communities and the country as a whole.

GULU Uganda (PAMACC News) - Over one thousand Karamojong pastoralists facing severe starvation in Northern Uganda have been accused of destroying crops belonging to local farmers within parts of the region, as they move around with their livestock in search of water and greener pastures.

According to Paul Lopuk, the community head of pastoralists in Karamoja,the herders have been sleeping in the jungles, many kilometers away from their homes in Kotido and Moroto districts in order to graze their livestock.

"About 1,000 of them have established makeshift settlements in Alebtong and Otuke districts in neighbouring Lango sub region, west of their home villages," said Lopuk.

They are majorly grazing on stocks of standing dry grass left by waves of bush fire which sweep the region. They are grazing in Olilim and Omoro sub counties in Alebtong district. Security and local leaders have restricted them to graze in a small piece of land.

Lopuk says the animals are unable to feed enough due to lack of adequate green grass. “We are encountering few nutritive young green grass upstream. The animals don’t prefer the grasses in the valleys which is why they stray into people’s gardens” he told PAMAAC News.

When the livestock could no longer derive adequate water from the mud left in valley dams constructed by government of Uganda, the pastoralists started to slowly drift away west of their villages, kilometer by kilometer until the distance became too much for them to return home and eat or fetch food.

Patrick Okello, a resident of Olilim says his three acres of Cassava have been destroyed by the pastoralists. He says besides interfering with the food security situation of the host communities, the pastoralists threaten women around water sources.

Wafula Ogumbo John, the resident district commissioner of Otuke district where some of the pastoralists have arrived says pastoralists without food have resorted to stealing food from host communities. In Ogwette Sub County for example, several acres of cassava have been ransacked by the pastoralists. In Ogwette, communities preserve cassava seeds by leaving them in the gardens.

Wafula says “in gardens run down by the pastoralists and their livestock, the cassava planting materials broken down have begun drying up. If not arrested, the communities will not have cassava planting materials when the rains return”. Cassava is a food security crop in this area.

According to Wafula, sick pastoralists are exerting extra pressure on public resources such as water, health care, production and sanitation situation. The sick ones have begun turning up at health centers after spending days without proper food and shelter.

“Medicines supplied to health center hosting the pastoralists are running out of supplies. We are working with Police to conduct surveillance and prevent the pastoralists engaging in criminal activities where they are seeking water and healthcare services among others” Wafula explained adding that 30 animals were stolen by the pastoralists from their host communities in Ogwette Sub County. They are yet to be recovered and handed back to their owners.

Like in Alebtong district, some of the pastoralists have resorted to cheaply selling emaciated livestock and uninspected animal products such as milk and meat to local communities in order to buy some food. The animals sell for as low as Uganda shillings 100,000. Karamojong pastoralists often migrate from their districts into Acholi and Lango sub region during droughts when there is acute shortage of pastures and water. This year’s influx stems from a long dry spell which adversely affected valley dams constructed by government of Uganda since September last year.

In January, Karamojong pastoralists entered Adilang Sub County in Agago district, another Karamojong neighborhood in Acholi sub region. They were accused of killing three residents they had encountered hunting in the bush. It is unclear why they killed them since none of the attackers was arrested but residents say the Karamojong cattle keepers are often aggressive. They want government to find permanent solutions to the unending search for water and pastures by the Karamojong pastoralists year by year. Hay conservation is a complete stranger among Karamojong pastoralists.

government and donors including the European Union have been attempting to diversify the economy of Karamojong pastoralists since they were disarmed of 40,000 assault rifles they used to protect their livestock, the major source of their livelihoods in the 1990s. The impacts of this intervention remains slow as malnutrition among Karamojong pastoralists remains high.

According to the African Union and the World Food Programme, one in two children in Karamoja is stunted. The UN agency says malnutrition cost 5.7 percent of Uganda’s GDP, an estimated 899 Million dollars each year. The UN WFP and African Union estimates that malnutrition will cost Uganda 7.7 Billion dollars in lost productivity by 2025.

 The Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) says the Karamoja region has been experiencing water stress since December last year. The authority projects that the region will experience irregular light rains to set in around mid-March to late March, which will eventually lead to the onset of steady rains by early April.

 “The peak rains are expected around early to Mid-May, and then moderate relaxation around mid- June. Overall, there are high chances for near normal rainfall over this region” a statement by the Authority issued on February 20th states.

Otuke district resident commission, John Ogumbo Wafula says government should invest more capital in building more valley dams for the Karamojong to store adequate water for the worst of times.

PAMACC, Abuja-NIGERIA After five decades of the creation of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), the basin is still characterised by increasing population and severe drought.

Scholars believe that as the population growth rate increases from 40 million in 2010, to a projection of 62 million in 2030, the consequences of famine, water distribution problems, human and animal disease will also rise.

They said these changes that have occurred could have been because of global climate change, fueled by accelerated population growth.

They also averred that these factors were responsible for the accumulation of social tensions which could have led to the outbreak of the violent insurgency that the region is faced with lately.

In 1992, a decision was taken to develop a master plan for the Lake Chad basin to include the establishment of an environmentally sound management of the natural resources of the Lake Chad conventional basin.

The feasibility study for the water transfer from the Congo basin to the Lake Chad was the second priority project selected for implementation by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).  

A proposal to transfer water from Congo to the Lake Chad was submitted to the LCBC in 1984 at the height of the most severe drought affecting the Lake Chad basin.

This proposal was approved and shared by the then President Mobuto Sese Seko of Congo, but was considered to be too big, hence a similar proposal of taking water from the Ubangi river to the Lake Chad was adopted by the Member-states of the LCBC.

Raising an estimated 6 million USD for the pre-feasibility study of the Ubangu-Lake Chad Inter- Basin Water Transfer became a problem until the government of Nigeria under President Olusegun Obasanjo provided support and launched a diplomatic campaign to get the no-objection of the two Congos.

The conduct of the feasibility study was awarded to a Canadian firm, CIMA International, with work commencing on the 13th of October 2009 for a period of 28 months.

The study was concluded in 2011 with the conclusion that the Ubangi-Lake Chad Inter-Basin Water Transfer project is technically feasible and economically viable from the Congo basin via the State Ubangi river to Lake Chad through an inter-basin transfer, a pumping transfer via the Palambo dam and a gravity transfer through a deviation of the Koto River.

This will increase the water level of the Lake by at least one meter in both the south and the north basins and increase the size of the Lake by about 5,000km square over a period of four to five years.

The combined cost estimate of the projects for the transfer was put at USD 14.5 billion.

The result of the study was endorsed by the 14th Summit of the Head of States and Government of the LCBC on 30th April 2012.

Delivering a speech at the ongoing International Conference on Lake Chad in Nigeria, the Executive Secretary of the LCBC, Engr. Sanusi Abdullahi, said there was no solution to the shrinking of the Lake Chad that does not involve recharging the Lake with water from outside the basin.

He opined that the issue was not an option but a necessity, saying the region was faced with the possibility of the Lake disappearing with catastrophic effects to the African continent.

"Poverty, misery, loss of hopes and the spread of violent extremism, human trafficking and migration in the Lake Chad has endured for too long.

"It must come to an end, that is the task before all of us."

The Chairman of the Council of LCBC Ministers, Mr Issoufu Katambe, commended Nigerian Government on its efforts at paying its annual dues, calling on all other member-nations to contribute their quota towards the realisation of the restoration of the basin.

He stressed the need to find sustainable solutions to the Lake Chad crises, saying that ending violent extremism would require the deliberate action of solving its root causes, such as poverty and unemployment.

Katambe also said that member-nations ought to promote regional integration, educate all stakeholders and deliberate capacity building, adding that this was a sure way to tackle the ongoing challenges.

However, the solution to Lake Chad insecurity became obvious with the opening up of new opportunities and sustainable solutions through regional partnerships and economic integration.

Sharing a different view on the Lake Chad restoration, a Water Engineer, Guy Immega, advocated the use of solar energy to recharge the drying lake chad basin to promote livelihood for those in the region.

According to him, the use of solar is a cost effective approach that could provide technical and social benefits to the  benefiting countries..

"The Solar Option is the best choice because it is approximately 10 per cent of the cost of a hydroelectric dam, no flooding and displacement of villages and people.

"No disruption of fisheries and agriculture, No significant Ubangi River water loss, renewed Lake Chad ecosystem will lead to increased agriculture, food security and economic opportunities, "Immega said.

He said using this option would enable an inter basin water transfer project that would not have direct consequences on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighboring countries.

According to him, Lake Chad was once the most important freshwater ecosystem in the Sahel, providing sustenance to 30 million people living in Africa’s central sub-Sahara..

He said in the last 50 years, it has shrunk to less than 10 per cent of its former size, leading to a major humanitarian crisis.

Immega commended the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), representing the countries surrounding the lake, for studying the problem and seeking a viable approach for Inter-Basin Water Transfer from the Ubangi River to replenish the Lake.

Stakeholders believe that what the Lake Chad region is asking the African leaders is to look at the problem of insecurity and lack of infrastructural development.

All in all, experts believe that the continent should align its interventions with the Agenda 2063 for the sole purpose of socio-economic transformation of the continent, just like the dream of its founding fathers.

GULU Uganda (PAMACC News) - Over one thousand Karamojong pastoralists facing severe starvation in Northern Uganda have been accused of destroying crops belonging to local farmers within parts of the region, as they move around with their livestock in search of water and greener pastures.

According to Paul Lopuk, the community head of pastoralists in Karamoja,the herders have been sleeping in the jungles, many kilometers away from their homes in Kotido and Moroto districts in order to graze their livestock.

"About 1,000 of them have established makeshift settlements in Alebtong and Otuke districts in neighbouring Lango sub region, west of their home villages," said Lopuk.

They are majorly grazing on stocks of standing dry grass left by waves of bush fire which sweep the region. They are grazing in Olilim and Omoro sub counties in Alebtong district. Security and local leaders have restricted them to graze in a small piece of land.

Lopuk says the animals are unable to feed enough due to lack of adequate green grass. “We are encountering few nutritive young green grass upstream. The animals don’t prefer the grasses in the valleys which is why they stray into people’s gardens” he told PAMAAC News.

When the livestock could no longer derive adequate water from the mud left in valley dams constructed by government of Uganda, the pastoralists started to slowly drift away west of their villages, kilometer by kilometer until the distance became too much for them to return home and eat or fetch food.

Patrick Okello, a resident of Olilim says his three acres of Cassava have been destroyed by the pastoralists. He says besides interfering with the food security situation of the host communities, the pastoralists threaten women around water sources.

Wafula Ogumbo John, the resident district commissioner of Otuke district where some of the pastoralists have arrived says pastoralists without food have resorted to stealing food from host communities. In Ogwette Sub County for example, several acres of cassava have been ransacked by the pastoralists. In Ogwette, communities preserve cassava seeds by leaving them in the gardens.

Wafula says “in gardens run down by the pastoralists and their livestock, the cassava planting materials broken down have begun drying up. If not arrested, the communities will not have cassava planting materials when the rains return”. Cassava is a food security crop in this area.

According to Wafula, sick pastoralists are exerting extra pressure on public resources such as water, health care, production and sanitation situation. The sick ones have begun turning up at health centers after spending days without proper food and shelter.

“Medicines supplied to health center hosting the pastoralists are running out of supplies. We are working with Police to conduct surveillance and prevent the pastoralists engaging in criminal activities where they are seeking water and healthcare services among others” Wafula explained adding that 30 animals were stolen by the pastoralists from their host communities in Ogwette Sub County. They are yet to be recovered and handed back to their owners.

Like in Alebtong district, some of the pastoralists have resorted to cheaply selling emaciated livestock and uninspected animal products such as milk and meat to local communities in order to buy some food. The animals sell for as low as Uganda shillings 100,000. Karamojong pastoralists often migrate from their districts into Acholi and Lango sub region during droughts when there is acute shortage of pastures and water. This year’s influx stems from a long dry spell which adversely affected valley dams constructed by government of Uganda since September last year.

In January, Karamojong pastoralists entered Adilang Sub County in Agago district, another Karamojong neighborhood in Acholi sub region. They were accused of killing three residents they had encountered hunting in the bush. It is unclear why they killed them since none of the attackers was arrested but residents say the Karamojong cattle keepers are often aggressive. They want government to find permanent solutions to the unending search for water and pastures by the Karamojong pastoralists year by year. Hay conservation is a complete stranger among Karamojong pastoralists.

government and donors including the European Union have been attempting to diversify the economy of Karamojong pastoralists since they were disarmed of 40,000 assault rifles they used to protect their livestock, the major source of their livelihoods in the 1990s. The impacts of this intervention remains slow as malnutrition among Karamojong pastoralists remains high.

According to the African Union and the World Food Programme, one in two children in Karamoja is stunted. The UN agency says malnutrition cost 5.7 percent of Uganda’s GDP, an estimated 899 Million dollars each year. The UN WFP and African Union estimates that malnutrition will cost Uganda 7.7 Billion dollars in lost productivity by 2025.

 The Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) says the Karamoja region has been experiencing water stress since December last year. The authority projects that the region will experience irregular light rains to set in around mid-March to late March, which will eventually lead to the onset of steady rains by early April.

 “The peak rains are expected around early to Mid-May, and then moderate relaxation around mid- June. Overall, there are high chances for near normal rainfall over this region” a statement by the Authority issued on February 20th states.

Otuke district resident commission, John Ogumbo Wafula says government should invest more capital in building more valley dams for the Karamojong to store adequate water for the worst of times.