Turning organic waste into wealth

Across markets in Kenya and Uganda, organic waste is more than a disposal problem. With the right support, it can become a source of income, healthier communities and climate action.

The market is already busy when Samuel Maina begins his day at City Park Market in Nairobi. Around him, traders arrange fresh produce for their customers, while crates of tomatoes, avocados and bananas change hands. But not everything will make it to the end of the day. Some produce will become waste – creating costs for traders and adding to a growing waste problem.

For Samuel, however, this waste also represents an opportunity.

Samuel is not alone. A recent baseline survey among traders in Nairobi’s Westlands and Dagoretti North areas found that 92% of respondents are willing to participate in initiatives that turn organic market waste into new products and income opportunities – including recycling, vermicomposting, aerobic composting and the use of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae to produce animal feed.

But willingness alone is not enough.

For many traders, organic waste is currently associated with costs rather than opportunities. Although 82% of those surveyed already pay for waste collection service, 98% do not have suitable waste collection equipment e.g. waste bins, and only 22% currently separate their organic waste.

At the same time, fresh produce can spoil quickly. Oversupply, delayed deliveries, transport damage and unfavorable weather conditions, all contribute to food losses. During the rainy season, the problem becomes particularly acute: 40% of respondents identified April (the long rain season), as the month when they experience the highest levels of food spoilage.

The idea resonates beyond Kenya. In Uganda, traders face similar challenges – and see similar opportunities.

Naboso Joyce’s words capture the central idea behind the Waste to Wealth (WAWE) project: what is currently treated as waste can become an input for new economic activities.

Organic market waste can be processed into organic fertilizer or animal feed, reducing disposal costs while creating opportunities for waste pickers, women and young people.

Farmers could become an important part of this emerging market. Nearly all farmers interviewed in Kiambu and Soroti said they would consider purchasing products made from waste – provided they are affordable, their quality is demonstrated through small trials and they are available locally in small packages.

Many market traders are farmers themselves, creating opportunities for them not only as customers but also as distributors of these new products.

The demand for opportunities is clear. But traders and waste pickers need support to turn that demand into viable businesses.

Training is the biggest need: 81% of respondents identified it as a priority. This was followed by access to credit at 59%, opportunities for waste collection and recycling at 52%, and equipment or storage facilities at 46%.

Women face additional barriers. Women over the age of 35 were identified as particularly vulnerable to exclusion from emerging waste-recycling businesses, with 45% of respondents considering them the most disadvantaged group.

Negative social attitudes were the most frequently cited barrier, followed by limited access to training and household responsibilities. Discrimination was also identified as a significant challenge.

Targeted training, affordable financing, appropriate equipment and flexible business arrangements could help women participate in and benefit from the growing waste-recycling economy.

The project is not simply about introducing new technologies for processing organic waste. It is about creating the conditions that allow people to use those technologies and turn them into viable businesses.

That means investing in knowledge, access to finance and equipment, building local markets and ensuring that women and other groups at risk of exclusion can participate.

The approach reflects a central principle of climate action: solutions are more likely to last when they respond to people’s everyday realities and give communities a stake in making them work.

Across Nairobi and beyond, the challenge is therefore no longer simply how to dispose of organic waste. It is how to unlock its value – for people, for food systems and for the climate.