No waste wasted! Empowering Djougou
Still to go
Hi everyone!
We are Anne-Felice, Eva, Michelle, and Ilse. We are studying the minor International Entrepreneurship and Development at TU Delft, and in November, we will be traveling to Benin! Over the course of three months, we will work with students from Lycée Technique Agricole de Djougou to build a biogas reactor.
We are collaborating with LTA in Djougou. This agricultural school was founded in 2013 to train young people for work in the agricultural sector and currently spans an area of 100 hectares, with plans to expand to 1,000 hectares. The school offers six training programs: crop production, livestock farming, food and food technology, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, and rural management. Graduates from the school primarily work for NGOs, on farms, or in other sectors, but only a small number (less than 10%) become entrepreneurs. This is problematic, especially because the horticulture sector needs more businesses and young people are interested in becoming active in the field. Throughout the entire value chain of horticulture in the country, there are opportunities for new businesses.
Our goal is to create an entrepreneurial solution for biogas production, in collaboration with the students. To achieve this, we have designed a device that converts organic waste into biogas, tackling the growing issue of waste management caused by the increased consumption of modern society. Organic waste, including food scraps, agricultural residues, and animal manure, can serve as a cheap, renewable energy source. Through anaerobic digestion, microorganisms break down the waste in the absence of oxygen, producing biogas. We can then store this biogas for preservation and transportation, and it can be used for various purposes. One of these is powering a fruit dryer. The gas will serve as the energy source for the dryer to dry fruit grown on the land, which can then be sold during the dry season. Additionally, we will conduct workshops on how to build and use the reactor, and we will create an instruction booklet. This way, the students will be able to build and improve the reactor on their own to increase production. Furthermore, we will also work with the students to explore how they can engage more with entrepreneurship and expand their knowledge in this area.
For our project, we aim to raise €2,500. This will allow us to start realizing the sustainable generation of biogas. The money we raise will be used for a prototype, materials needed for the reactor, workshop materials, and travel costs to the school.
Updates on our project will be posted on our Instagram account: @nowastewastedtud
