gardens
From Piles of Trash Kibera’s Organic Farms Relieve Hunger
Trash dumps are being turned into organic gardens in a notorious Nairobi slum.
Youth in Kandimiru, a village within Kibera — known as Africa's biggest urban slum — are growing and selling produce on the former rubbish heaps, potentially easing the food crisis acutely felt by Africa's poor.
The science-fiction site I09 features photos of the transformation, calling it "the future of urban agriculture." It could also be the future of Kibera’s youth: "Most of the members were criminals who have chosen to reform," Mohammed Abdullahi, an official with the Kibera Youth Initiative for Community Development, tells IRIN news.
There are other indicators of change in the Kenyan slum, where vigilante groups rather than police patrol the streets. The Associated Press reports that some residents of Kibera "have helped construct a network of public latrines that recycle human waste into gas for cooking and light" and others, with the help of a Swiss aid organization, "use sunlight to purify drinking water, dramatically slashing cases of waterborne disease."
The most futuristic advance that could arise in Kibera involves using the methane gas from toilets to power people's homes. According to the AP, "Residents pay three cents to use one of eight drop toilets installed around a buried tank. The waste goes into an airtight 'biodigester,' where methane gas filters into an upper tank. The gas can be used to light stoves, turn on lamps, or heat water, although it is not yet pumped to individual homes."
Now that would make news on I09.
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