Inside Nigeria’s organic fertiliser producing plant

For 20 years, Earthcare Nigeria Limited has been converting organic waste to fertiliser and producing organic feeds for animal husbandry, making it the largest organic fertiliser producer in Nigeria. Sunday Oguntola, who visited the plant of the firm recently in Ikorodu, Lagos reports on how it has been producing a daily turnout of 500 bags.

Waste trucks move in and out of Earthcare Nigeria Limited almost on a daily basis with residents in the estate where it is situated in Ikorodu suburb of Lagos wondering what they get to do with them. The massive tonnes of waste moved into the quiet, expansive landscape of the firm however turn into mega millions and improve the environmental fortunes of Nigeria in no small way. From the waste emerge economic bucks and a cleaner environment.

While many residents close to the plant, including millions of Nigerians may not be aware, some farmers in the most populous black nation on earth have been benefitting from the astonishing products from the waste in the last 20 years.

The firm has been converting organic waste to fertiliser with indescribable nutritional value to the soil. The waste gathered mainly from nearby Ketu and Ojota markets produces not less than 500 bags of organic fertiliser under the Waste-To-Wealth initiative of the firm with the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). LAWMA MD/CEO Ibrahim Odumboni, confirmed this at a recent stakeholders meeting.

According to him, Earthcare Nigeria Limited plays a major role in the project, promising that LAWMA would collaborate more to stabilise the recycling value-chain for fair reward to all stakeholders and investors.

The plant situated on a 24-hectare expanse of land in the Ikorodu recycling waste plant has the capacity to produce 200,000 metric tons of Grade “A” organic fertilizer per annum.
Chief Operating Officer/Managing Director of Earthcare Nigeria Limited, Gregory Ohiaeri, explained the project, apart from reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 20%, converts them to value for farmers, meaning vegetables, fruits or other plants grown with the fertilizer are purely organic devoid of any harmful chemicals.

The unique idea of converting perishable wastes to fertilizer started the during the administration of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos when Earthcare Nigeria Limited entered into a partnership with LAWMA to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by diverting solid waste, which would normally go to landfills in the city of Lagos, to a state-of-the-art composting facility.

Ohiaeri explained that while funding has always been a major challenge because of the need to expand more and acquire more equipment, Earthcare is also producing organic feeds for poultry and other livestock farmers at cost-effective prices compared to other chemically enhanced feeds.

“Waste, which hitherto a challenge and burden, has been channeled to the plant is now creating employment. Not only that, the organic fertilizer produced from the plant is now being sought after by farmers to nourish their vegetables and other planted crops in their farms.

“All organic soil additives are not composted. A farmer buys NPK chemical fertilizer hoping to feed his crop but in reality, all farmers know that a large amount of the N that they purchase is lost as ammonia to the air, dissolves in water where it washes from the field during a rain event or is carried deep in the soil towards the aquifer beyond the plant’s root system.”
According to him, while the NPK chemical fertilizer goes for about N12,500, Earthcare organic fertilizer costs less half while being more beneficial to the soil, crop and farmers. This is because it contains a diverse set of organisms, a diverse set of food resources, and humus to provide good aggregate soil structure.

“Presently, we have supplied many States in the country with fertilizers from the site. All we are doing presently is to scale up the capacity which requires lots of funding. The Lagos State Government has been supportive but with more support, we will be able to reach more farmers and improve the state of agriculture in the State.”

The plant, Ohiaeri said, is not just to convert waste to fertilizers. Earthcare is also helping livestock farmers to produce organic feeds that not only keep their livestock growing well but is also healthy for people who consume them.

“We have designed a biorefinery that turns waste into wealth for smallholder farmers. Our zero-waste, zero-emissions system converts organic waste using black soldier fly larvae. When the black soldier fly larvae are fed organic waste, they mature quickly and have a high protein content which makes them a nutritious animal feed.

“In the feeding process, they break down the organic matter and leave behind a residue which serves as an organic soil amendment. The larvae which are then dried and blended with cassava puddings which is also a by-product from a starch-making company contain high protein for livestock.”

He said with more funding, Earthcare wants to focus on strengthening its supply chain logistics and also integrate tech into the process a bit more.

“I think mobilising the informal sector would also be pretty impactful. There are a lot of people in waste management, unofficially, but I think they just need that push to have a waste sorting and waste processing center. And being able to streamline that process would be huge for us. For one, because we know exactly what kind of waste we’re getting and we have a waste source secured,” he added.

Converting food waste into animal feed is highly useful for tackling the problem of food waste, which is particularly severe in developed countries.

The Head of Animal Husbandry for Earthcare Nigeria Limited Aina Ololade Matthew said the conversion of food waste into animal feed is highly useful for tackling the problem of food waste, which is particularly severe in developed countries like Nigeria.
“Converting food waste into animal feed is highly useful for tackling the problem of food waste, which is particularly severe in developed countries. For every kilogram of (chicken) broiler feed, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 300 grams with a 10% mix diet generated from wastes which ordinarily would have been an eyesore,” he stressed.

Head PR and Marketing, Titi Mogaji, said with enough investment, the amount of commercially produced food waste, on both the large and small scale, needs to be reduced. “With nearly fifty percent of this waste being derived from fruit and vegetable origins, recycling this waste into animal feed would drastically reduce the overall amount of waste produced,” she added.

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