Managing municipal waste has been a growing challenge. The response has been finding nearby rural landscape where the waste are dumped. This situation is not pleasant for most peri-urban settlements. It requires proper management to deal with the abundant wastes produced and one of the ways to efficiently deal with the wastes is to convert the biodegradable component of the wastes into bio-fertilizer thus saving the difficulty of securing landfills for waste disposal.
Being faced with these challenges, Abrono Organic Farming Project, a local NGO which had been preparing and using compost from domestic and farm waste took the initiative to develop and promote disposal systems that require a minimum level of mechanical equipment. This project demonstrates the effective management of municipal solid waste and explores the usefulness of organic manure to promote environmentally sound practices for future environmental quality and human welfare.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The overall development objective of this project was to demonstrate the viability of composting and sustainable Community Solid Waste (CSW) management. The project sought to:
? increase the knowledge about solid waste management and organic farming among farmers;
? raise local awareness on the value and opportunities of composting through education in schools and public outreach;
? set up a waste composting plant to convert wastes into good quality compost for sustainable land management.
These objectives were met by establishing an organic composting and related facilities with funding and technical assistance from GEF STAR funds and REEPL from India.
IMPLEMENTATION
The project was implemented over a period of 36 months and has produced three main outputs as follows:

A community composting facility at Abrono for processing domestic solid waste into compost for use in agricultural field and vegetable production and providing training to different stakeholders established at Abrono in Techiman Municipal area.

The project acquired 200 X 200 meter land walled and constructed building for Segregation of waste at source; Composting of biodegradable waste. Currently, around 0.5 tonnes/month of municipal solid waste are collected and process. The project acquired and distributed 3,000 solid waste bin collectors to 1,500 households (8 Liters- capacity) in the peri-urban communities. Each household was given two bins, in different colours free of charge for the wet and the dry waste respectively.
The households were educated on how to segregate the waste at source into biodegradable (wet) waste and non-biodegradable (dry) waste. A Door-to-door collection of waste took place on every other day using a tricycle ?motor kin? (100 kg capacity) on either pushcarts or tricycles. After the waste has been collected from the households and commercial establishments, the waste is transported to the site for aerobic composting.
1. A community waste management and compost production enterprise with five permanent workers and 35 causal workers
The project registered Abrono bio-fertilizer enterprise. The shareholding structure was as follows: landowners (15%); the Abrono community (55%); ABOFAP (30%). The enterprise has a seven member management team with Nana Kow Adams and chief Executive Officer. The other members are Production manager, Sales/Account manager, Technical director; Quality control manager; Transport and waste collection manager; Training and communication manager and Human resource manager. These people were appointed by the Board of Directors and work as Volunteers with stipend. There are five permanent workers and security personnel. There are causal workers who are responsible for sorting the waste into gradable and non-degradable materials.
2. A bio-fertilizer segregation and processing unit. Under the supervision of the management team the enterprise process the waste into organic compost after 60 days cycle. The final products are bagged and sold to as bio-fertilizer to farmers, and other users. The enterprise has its own experimental farms where various trial are made.

Major Achievements

? The project identified and registered 20 Youth Volunteers (12 males and 8 females) and was trained in enterprise development. These people were carefully selected based on the conviction that they will develop business enterprise from the waste management. The group will be registered as a social enterprise
Composting of Biodegradable Waste
At the site, all biodegradable waste were composted in aerobic composts using sealed pits. Aerobic composting refers to a process where biodegradable waste is biologically decomposed under controlled conditions by microorganisms (mainly bacteria and fungi) under aerobic conditions. The product, compost, can be utilized as an organic fertilizer to rejuvenate soils. A key risk associated with composting relates to the product; i.e. compost that is free from environmental hazards.

On-Site Training and Development
All the trained environ-entrepreneurs and identified stakeholders and farmers were given extensive training in composting techniques, principles behind composting and recycling, occupational hazards, health and hygiene, collection and transportation procedures..

The composting facility were monitored by the trained workers. Any trouble shooting during the project period shall be dealt and overcome by the support of the technical people from the implementing agency.
Brand and promote the marketing and sale of compost products
The compost were marketed in and around the locality. Farmers shall be encouraged to buy the compost for farming. The marketing and sale of compost shall be given the responsibility for the ABOFAP and the income generated shall be used for the maintenance and sustainable of the project.
Handing over the Project to the Registered Environ-entrepreneurs
After the completion of the project period the project was handed over to the environ-entrepreneurs after successful implementation and running over a period of 12 months. Technical the project will end in September 2016
Conduct training (farmers, municipality, etc) in application of compost in farming
ABOFAP will set up a demonstration farm among the vegetable producing areas to teach the farmers the effective applications of the compost. Thereafter farmers would be encouraged to adopt best alternative practices in the production of vegetable within the geographic areas