title: Environmental impact from vermicomposting of organic waste in Kampala, Uganda.
abstract: Urban animal farming is becoming increasingly important in feeding the growing population of many sub-Saharan African cities. However, management of the animal manure generated is proving to be challenging due to space restrictions. Vermicomposting is one of the methods proposed to address this challenge. This study investigated the environmental performance of the vermicompost system by measuring the gaseous emissions generated from the system. In addition, the vermicompost system was compared with other manure management systems currently in use, using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The emissions factors for the vermicompost system were found to be 10.8, 62.3 and 12.8 g/Megagram biowaste for methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia, respectively. LCA showed satisfactory performance of vermicomposting in terms of global warming and eutrophication potential, although if the vermicompost generated is dumped, this could lead to increased eutrophication. However, this is still much lower than the eutrophication caused by open dumping of untreated manure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda; Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences and Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries, P.O. Box 611, Dübendorf, Switzerland. Electronic address: allankoma@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Komakech
authors.affiliation: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Sciences and Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries, P.O. Box 611, Dübendorf, Switzerland. Electronic address: Christian.Zurbruegg@eawag.ch.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zurbrügg
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. Electronic address: miitogilbert@gmail.com.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Miito
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. Electronic address: wanyama2002@gmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wanyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7032, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: Bjorn.Vinneras@slu.se.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vinnerås
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002947:Cities; D004777:Environment; D005068:Eutrophication; D005740:Gases; D057232:Global Warming; D008372:Manure; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000032:analysis; D012987:Soil; D014454:Uganda; D018505:Waste Management / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil; D000641:Ammonia; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D008697:Methane
keywords: Economic performance; Emission factors; Fertiliser; Lifecycle assessment; Manure; Sub-Saharan Africa