2013 Theses Master's

Low-tech approaches to infrastructure development: Anaerobic Digestion and Waste Management in Sub-Saharan West Africa

Onikute, Cuthbert A.

The challenges of waste management have persistently troubled local and national governments across the Global South. Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals is specifically focused on urban waste management. In sub-Saharan Africa the failure of waste management is especially pronounced in non-capital urban environments. The failures of waste management are often attributed to failures to adequate collect and properly manage disposal, both failures are often attributed to lack of funding. A waste management system built around anaerobic digestion has the potential to provide multiple economic incentives for full waste collection and treatment. This thesis model’s the likely cost and economic returns to small and medium sized cities in West Africa if they operate a waste management system that incorporates locally constructed anaerobic digesters.