LEISA Magazine 24.2 june 2008 25 (dry fot serves two serves fot uidelines for the for Guidelines uidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and and excreta wastewater, of use safe the for uidelines G C, they note that storage times of one and a half to two years years two to half a and one of times storage that note they C, o Where faecal matter and other organic materials are composted at at composted are materials organic other and matter faecal Where composting aerobic an such of end-product the temperature, ambient conditioner soils a as properties good has and smell not does process . phosphorus slow-release and WHO fertilizer, a as night-soil using from risks health the minimize To difficult is it Where recommendations. and statements various makes recommends WHO heap, the of temperature the increase to temperatures ambient With safety. ensure to storage” “prolonged 2-20 of will “eliminate bacterial pathogens; will reduce viruses and parasitic parasitic and viruses reduce will pathogens; bacterial “eliminate will levels.” risk below protozoa “control to precautions various recommends WHO addition, In include night-soil handling those for Precautions risk. to exposure” and facemask, a and gloves boots, as such protection personal wearing purposes. other for used not equipment or tools using quality the if field, the to compost night-soil the applying of time the At ground the to “close use to recommended is it guaranteed, be cannot In it. covering and soil, the to in material the working application”, night-soil where areas all from away kept be should children addition, applied. been has or treated prepared, is very is hygiene personal and domestic that notes WHO Finally, diseases, of transmission stop cannot alone Technology important. If practices. hygiene good of aware be must communities and general good with coupled followed, are recommendations treatment night-soil use and collect who people to risks the hygiene, community to reduced be will products) fertilized consuming those as well (as levels. acceptable

Source 2006. Organization, Health World - Switzerland Geneva, agriculture. in use greywater and Excreta IV: Volume greywater. World Health Organization Health World greywater and excreta wastewater, of use safe • • • • • of traditional , the introduction of modern toilets, lack toilets, modern of introduction the toilets, traditional of outside of influence increasing the task, the for workforce of social of concerns and improvement educational culture/society, fertilizer. chemical subsidised of availability easy the and status, facilitated which toilets dry traditional the of use the addition, In The decreasing. is compost, into night-soil of conversion the vanished completely has composting night-soil of practice gradually have villages other many while villages, some from The 1980s. the since system traditional this discarding started severe a under therefore is compost night-soil of production the in disappear to likely most is and modernisation of threat it. save to taken not are steps if future near compost night-soil Preparing of floor first the on toilets traditional build Lahaul in Villagers rectangular a Through rooms. living their to attached house the to down drops night-soil the floor, the in 6”) x (12” hole avoid To place. takes composting the where floor, ground the in water of use the composting, during content moisture extra villagers defecating, After disallowed. strictly is toilets these as known locally materials, other with faeces the cover cattle dung, kitchen ash, dry grass or leaves). This leaves). or grass dry ash, kitchen dung, cattle it while nutrients, in rich compost the makes it purposes: main results best For away. flies keeps and odours bad prevents also in stored be must night-soil the process composting the during espite such Despite .B. Pant Institute in India has been has India in Institute Pant G.B. organic farming practices promoted in the region. the in promoted practices farming organic

agricultural resource since ancient times. When handled When times. ancient since resource agricultural Recognising this, the this, Recognising Night-soil (human ) has been considered a valuable a considered been has waste) (human Night-soil taking steps to promote the use of night-soil as one of the of one as night-soil of use the promote to steps taking Present scenario and future implications future and scenario Present clearly they and crops, on chemicals use to want not do Farmers fertilizer inorganic of use continuous of consequences the know inputs, organic use to prefer They fields. agricultural same the in fertilizer chemical subsidised and limited, are supplies however, night-soil of benefits perceived the Despite available. easily is decreasing. gradually is valley Lahaul the in use its compost, conditions unhygienic the are: decline this for reasons main The Poor soil fertility is a big hurdle to sustainable agriculture sustainable to hurdle big a is fertility soil Poor nutrient of rate the and removed is topsoil as areas, these in avalanches, snowfall, of abundance the to due high, is leaching conditions climatic harsh and cold the In erosion. and landslides it scanty, being cover vegetation and grass with region, the of adequate produce to cattle enough maintain to possible not is the situation, this with Faced manure. farmyard of amounts organic obtaining on heavily relied traditionally have locals earlier In excreta. human composting from derived manure overcome to able were farmers that meant necessity sheer times, human handling of practice the with associated revulsion the easy the and modernisation of advent the with Now, excreta. distancing are people , chemical of availability of because Moreover, practice. age-old this from themselves nowadays, toilets septic modern of adoption large-scale the yields the raise to fertilizers chemical use to forced are farmers hop and potato pea, like crops cash introduced recently of lupulus). (Humulus The Lahaul valley of the northwestern Indian Himalaya Indian northwestern the of valley Lahaul The winter during world the of rest the from off cut is mountains climatic inhospitable and harsh The snowfall. heavy to due have farmers that mean region this in prevailing conditions recent In practices. management agricultural unique developed & Environment Himalayan of Institute Pant G.B. the years, these of some of documentation initiated has Development nutrient soil innovative and traditional especially practices, agro-ecosystems sustaining in help that practices management documentation this of part As inputs. external few with villages selected four in conducted was survey a initiative, night-soil of system indigenous the of status the assess to between interviewed were households of Heads composting. recorded information The 2004. January and 2003 November field various of observation personal through verified also was papers research published records, past available All operations. indigenous the to pertaining information detailed other and collected. also were practice Santaram S. Oinam S. Santaram

known benefits its use is now decreasing with modernisation. modernisation. with decreasing now is use its benefits known water scarcity in the areas like the Lahaul valley. Lahaul the like areas the in scarcity water

safely, its use can contribute to reducing soil degradation and degradation soil reducing to contribute can use its safely,

continues to bring benefits bring to continues Traditional night-soil composting composting night-soil Traditional two different chambers or vaults for a minimum period of six months. The first vault can be left to compost for six months while the other vault is being used. By alternately using the two vaults, proper compost can be obtained twice a year and night-soil compost can be made continuously by shifting from one vault to another. Night-soil compost from the composting room is normally emptied in October/November and March/ April. The composting room has a special door for the removal of the compost. It is carried to the fields and dumped in a series of piles. The heaps of compost remain in the fields for four or five months. Soon after the melting of the snow and before the beginning of the crop season, it is scattered all over the fields. This allows sufficient time for composting of the material, and the night-soil compost is then safe and fit for use. Due to the social stigma, this task is generally conducted during night time, particularly when there is a full moon. To avoid nutrient losses,

compost heaps should be protected against rainwater in the Author Photo: fields. Night-soil compost should be mixed with the soil before It is important to wear the right protective clothing when removing sowing the seeds, and the dosage has to be appropriate. the night-soil compost from the composting room.

Associated health risks The mixture of urine and faeces should never be used as it not viruses, protozoa and helminth eggs in faeces can be fully only smells foul but also the slurry produced by this mixture has controlled. Some possible diseases due to partial treatment and a high number of enteric micro-organisms. Urine can be treated unsafe use of night-soil compost are amoebic dysentery, human by storing it separately for a period of six months; this makes tapeworm, cholera or viral hepatitis. Safe and hygienic use of it free of bacteria and safe for use in the fields. By consistently night-soil compost is important for protecting the health of the following these procedures, the presence of enteric bacteria, users, as well as the environment. In order to prevent diseases,

Changing attitudes to night-soil in Tanzania

Farmers in Ileje district rarely used night-soil, believing it to farmyard manure prior to application as basal fertilizer for be unsafe. One farmer’s efforts started a change in thinking maize production. This practice was possible for farmers with livestock. Farmers who had no animals started improving their and now night-soil is a valued commodity. As benefits have farms by using other techniques such as burying crop residues, been realised, changes in practice and attitudes, as well as use of sunn hemp (Crotolaria juncea) and crotalaria (Crotalaria ochroleuca), crop rotation and compost. improvements to soils, have been seen. Night-soil was introduced as another technique. When farmers were first introduced to it, they found it difficult to accept due Patrick Mwalukisa to the fact that was commonly regarded as unsafe, unhealthy and useless. However, one farmer, called Bahati Cereal production has been declining in many parts of Tanzania Simbeye, secretly emptied his toilet which was about three since the late 1970s, when input subsidies were removed. In years old, and used the materials for maize production. Some the late 1980s a study was conducted in Ileje district in the people saw what Bahati was doing, and found it interesting southern highlands, which revealed high rates of malnutrition that the maize he planted was growing very well and looking and mortality of the under 5s due to insufficient food intake per healthier than in previous years. Bahati came to the office to day. The major reason for this was judged to be low agricultural report on what he had tried and asked us to go and look at his production, caused by poor soil fertility in the area. In response, maize plot. We went and were impressed by his efforts. We COOPIBO (a Belgian NGO), CDTF (a Tanzanian NGO) and asked him if we could bring some more farmers to his plot and the Ileje District Council signed a tripartite agreement to form he agreed. We then organised a farmers’ field day, inviting the Ileje Food Crop Production Project (IFCPP) in 1988. IFCPP farmers from the surrounding villages. We showed them the started to train smallholder farmers to practise resource efficient different technologies practised, of which Bahati’s plot was 2008 june agriculture, through Participatory Research and Extension a main attraction. All farmers who attended the field day groups. The main objective of the new techniques was to use the appreciated what they saw and decided to try using night-soil. naturally available resources for soil fertility improvement. This This happened in 2004. would be a way of reclaiming land that has become exhausted due the intensive agriculture practised when there were enough In the following year, the number of farmers applying night-soil industrial inputs subsidised by the government. increased. The notion that human waste was useless declined with time. Farmers began buying the contents of old toilets Mbebe is one of the villages where resource efficient agriculture for between 800 and 1000 Tanzanian shillings (US$ 1) per pit, techniques were introduced, but with great difficulties in which have now become a commodity in Ileje. Farmers who 24.2 24.2 M agazine LEISA changing people’s mindsets. Farmers were trained to decompose have been applying night-soil and other organic fertilizers have 26 LEISA Magazine 24.2 june 2008 27 n Guidelines on the on Guidelines Changing crop Changing ., 1-35. EcoSanRes., Reuse of nutrients from ecological from nutrients of Reuse Land use and land cover changes in Jahlma in changes cover land and use Land , 45: 201-208. 45: GeoJournal, Urine blindness and the use of nutrients from human human from nutrients of use the and blindness Urine , 2 (2): 129-136. (2): 2 Science, Mountain of Journal References 1998. J.O., Drangert, - . agriculture urban in excreta 2004. Salomon, E. and Vinneras, B. Stinzing, A.R. H., Jonsson, - Production. Crop in faeces and Urine of Use 2004. Singh, G.S. and Vishvakarma S.C.R. J.C., Kuniyal, - crops introduced versus traditional of efficiency use resource and biodiversity . valley Lahaul of case a Himalaya: Indian northwestern the of desert cold the in 1271-1304. (7): 13 Conservation and Biodiversity 2002. Senzia, M.A D.A., Mashauri, - Engineering Resources Water fertiliser. of source a as toilets Tanzania. Salaam, es Dar Department, Kuniyal, J.C. Gajananda, K. Khoiyangbam, R.S. Rawat, Y.S. S.S., Oinam, - 2005. Vishvakarma, S.C.R. and northwestern the of region desert cold valley, Lahaul the of watershed India. Himalaya, Acknowledgements Environment Himalayan of Institute Pant B. G. Director, the to thankful is author The necessary providing for (Uttarakhand) Almora Kosi-Katarmal, Development, and also is Delhi New Research, Science Social of Council Indian the and facilities; study. this out carry to assistance financial granting for acknowledged highly

. of Agriculture Department, Ileje Rural Development Rural Ileje Department, Agriculture of Head Mwalukisa. M. Patrick Tanzania. Ileje, 160 Box Organisation, While night-soil is ranked as one of the better organic fertilizers organic better the of one as ranked is night-soil While some addition, In availability. is difficulty major the area, the in with handle to safe and hygienic is it whether query still farmers hands. bare reclaimed has district Ileje in fertilizer organic of application The comparison in improved has soil the of nature The land. farmers’ before did they as well as growing are Crops years. previous to inputs. chemical of introduction the Mr Admin Lungwe in his maize plot fertilized with night-soil. with fertilized plot maize his in Lungwe Admin Mr Photo: Author Photo: n . G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development, & Environment Himalayan of Institute Pant G.B. Oinam. S. Santaram India. Pradesh, Arunachal 113, 791 Itanagar Vihar, Vivek Unit, North-East [email protected] E-mail: The G.B. Pant Institute promotes night-soil as one of the organic the of one as night-soil promotes Institute Pant G.B. The nutrients soil of Enhancement region. the in practices farming highly is valley Lahaul the in compost night-soil through after that found survey The inhabitants. local the to beneficial toilet vault double the through night-soil of treatment proper reducing pathogens, of free is compost night-soil the system, use the that revealed also survey The users. the to risks health soil maintaining in role vital a play can compost night-soil of a has that region a in yield crop the increasing and fertility of model This August). April-mid (mid period growth limited scientifically be can management soil traditional sustainable world, the of regions many in replicated be may and validated chemical-free and efficient more to contribute could which systems. cropping Highly beneficial Highly proper management of night-soil and its treatment are essential. are treatment its and night-soil of management proper series a compost, into night-soil of conversion proper for So Health World The followed. be to need measures control of safe the to relating guidelines produced also has Organization p.25). Box, (see greywater and excreta wastewater, of use Night-soil has been found to be the best fertilizer, compared fertilizer, best the be to found been has Night-soil response, quick a give to tends it as fertilizers, organic other to that noted have Farmers dressing. top as used when especially lead may it as quantities small in applied be should night-soil also They amounts. large in applied if (scorch) burn crop to yields as input, organic this for paying worth is it that mention Fields used. is all at fertilizer no when than better much so are is It years. two than more for fertile are night-soil with planted years three for plot same the on harvests good get to possible fertilizers. other applying without consecutively Collection of night-soil of Collection cover farmers waste, human of full are toilets the When the for years two least at for them leave and soil, with them layer cover the this, After place. take to process decomposition and spades using emptied are pits the and off scraped is soil of gumboots. and gloves wear farmers protection, As hoes. hand throw to used people fertilizer, as night-soil using Before . in nails and glass broken like materials dangerous material, such of danger the of aware are members family Now, elsewhere. them of dispose and realised an average increase from two to fifteen 100 kg bags of bags kg 100 fifteen to two from increase average an realised night- apply to farmers many attracted has This acre. per maize was soil night Because fertilizer. dressing top and basal as soil constructed were pits useless, as regarded previously deep. feet to15 up dug were and homesteads, from away far and homestead the to closer constructed are toilets Nowadays, the reduce to purposely done been has This depth. that to not been have improvements Other pits. the emptying of workload in material organic other and residue crop putting as such made, fertilizer. of volume the increase to pits, the Changing attitudes to night-soil in Tanzania in night-soil to attitudes Changing