In Ismailia, Amira El-Noshokaty witnesses waste management made easy A two-hour drive northeast of Cairo, in Ismailia, an environmentally friendly development project is proving remarkable. Implemented collaboratively by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) and local NGOs, the Community Environment Action Project (CENACT) targeted solid waste and agricultural byproducts. According to Doaa Hussein, the project's social development specialist, "our entry point is capacity building, whether in support of local NGOs or, at the national level, by mainstreaming such large-scale problems as solid waste management through community-based initiatives." In the context of "gender mainstreaming", she adds, women, as the main producers of household waste, are integral partners. CENACT started two years ago in Ismailia, where 12 NGOs were selected for participation, and Minya -- the rural counterpart to this urban initiative -- where 24 NGOs took part. It should draw to an end by 2008, when partnership among stakeholders is expected to have paid off. The project's holistic approach, covering health awareness, equal employment profit-making opportunities promises true sustainability, with initiative as the name of the game. By contributing to Human Development Indicators, Hussein explains, the approach overcomes failures of capacity and vision that are vital for sustainability. NGOs are encouraged to have a well thought out plan to turn waste into organic material, which is both environmentally friendly and profitable, providing charcoal kilns, waste dumps and trucks. For Intesar Ahmed, board member of the Warawer Community Development Association for three years, the space to collect corn and rice hay before they are transformed into fertilisers came as a life raft: "At the beginning the only space we could use was the rooftops of houses, which was a huge fire hazard and posed the risk of giving rodents direct access to the crop." Local awareness campaigns, she recounts, were undertaken on a voluntary basis and targeted, initially, the women, who were persuaded to influence their husbands not to burn agricultural waste, a hugely polluting practice undertaken to keep away rodents -- which, they were told, could later be sold; they were also persuaded of the benefits of organic as opposed to chemical fertilisers. The health dimension, especially regarding children, had a part to play, but the financial incentive proved key: "People were hesitant until they realised that keeping the wastes they used to dispose of was a cheaper alternative to chemicals. With a sac of the latter costing LE25 -- as opposed to LE55 for the same amount of chemical fertilisers -- some 75 per cent of the inhabitants of Warawer made the switch. In Abu Halifa, a "clean environment for a better life" campaign, combined with a fine for burning rice hay, resulted in the widespread adoption of using agricultural waste as a medium for hydroponic (soil-less) planting. Some 98 per cent of the population were coopted within months. According to Mohamed Hindawy, EEAA/CENACT project manager, "this project is done in partnership with CIDA and the government, that provide, respectively Canadian $5 million and equipment worth of LE5 million to support local community associations with grants no greater than LE125,000. It is designed to operate over two cycles: the first to implement 19 waste management projects, 12 in Minya and seven in Ismailia; the second -- started in September -- involves an additional 16 projects." Has the project been successful enough for nationwide adoption, though? "It is more of a model," Hindawy says, "to be adopted independently. The fact that environmentally aware kilns are already walking in our footsteps is a very positive sign -- this is the key to sustainability." Hani Tawfiq, CENACT/ CIDA programme field manager, agreed: the work stresses networking, exchange of learning and expertise as much as anything; it strives to upgrade the standards of local associations. In the village of Al-Manaief, off the Cairo- Suez Highway, the Association of Environment Development and Social Services has transformed a traditional 40-day, wood-to- charcoal kiln into an environmentally friendly enterprise. Based on the initiative of an Egyptian engineer who recommended switching from gasoline to natural gas, thus increasing the heat enough to reduce the 40 days to a mere 24 hours, the kiln produces better- quality charcoal, whereas, over the traditional 40 days, humidity would result in dampness and breakage, wasting up to seven tonnes of wood. The new, more flammable charcoal has less than two per cent humidity and produces liquid tar used in isolating building materials as a byproduct. In the words of Mohamed Said, a charcoal manufacturer for nine years, "two tonnes of wood now yield 44 sacs of charcoal, with neither smoke nor waste that has to be dealt with later." Here as elsewhere, local efforts have also resulted in cleaner streets. According to Hassan El-Menshawi, secretary-general of the NGO coalition for environment protection and chairperson of the association community development in the village of Abu Atwa, since the NGO prioritised it, garbage collection has grown more effective and residents are grateful for the NGO. As Tawfiq Ali, owner of the grocery store on Al-Bokhary Street recalls, "a year ago, people used to dump their garbage at the foot of the hill, because local garbage collection was limited to main streets, and the collectors would show up one day and disappear for the next five. Thanks to the efforts of our local NGO, the garbage van has solved this problem." Housewife Siham Nour agreed: "every other day, at 9am, the garbage van blows its horns, and everyone prepares their garbage and takes it there." Amal Mohamed, another housewife, is even more enthused: "it's for our safety and comfort, we'd pay up to LE5 for it if we had to."
