February 2006
To combat straw waste fires, the EEAA and Social Development Fund are arming farmers with tractors and compressors to help convert rice straw into fertilizer
The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) is not only targeting brick factory air pollution, but also the burning of rice straw waste, which the agency says contributes to nearly a third of the 'black cloud' phenomenon that blankets Cairo and has residents running indoors every fall. It has initiated an LE 32 million program to recycle rice straw waste and convert it into compost fertilizer -- and bring modern machinery to the countryside as a bonus.
"What we call the 'black cloud' came into effect in the last four to five years and it has become a very hard challenge for the government as a whole, not just for the Ministry of Environment," says Amal Hamdy Al-Sheemy, international affairs coordinator for EEAA. "That is why the Cabinet of ministers wanted to have a national project that deals with the recycling of the agricultural waste. The rice straw is just a starting point."
The agency built two factories in the Daqahliyah and Sharqiyah governorates, which are large producers of rice and close to Cairo.
The EEAA has developed a deal with the Social Development Fund (SDF) over the past two years to give soft loans to rice cultivators in the region to purchase tractors and compressors for recycling the rice straw.
In effect, the tractor is an incentive for the farmers to buy the compressor (it also runs the compressor), which is necessary to create the transportable rice straw blocks. To keep the farmers using the compressor, the factories will pay LE 80 for each ton of rice straw the farmer produces. Queen Service, a company affiliated with the armed forces, will provide transportation of the rice straw waste from the farms to the factories.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) joined the project on November 13, granting LE 500,000 to offset the cost of the machinery for the first 50 farmers who apply.
Al-Sheemy says the agency plans to eventually expand the factories all over the Delta. The EEAA is also currently negotiating technical assistance for using rice straw to produce medium density fiberboard -- a type of artificial wood used for furniture.
"We are currently studying to establish a market and identify what industries can absorb rice straw and what the market prices would be," Al-Sheemy says. "This is how the Egyptian government is doing it -- the starting point is the farmer and the product is the end."
Kristina Roic
© Business Today Egypt 2006
