African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 650 Cow Dung Economy

 Port of Mombasa.

The dock workers looked at the loads of goods being loaded onto the ship with curiosity, trying to breathe as little as possible, and even covered their noses and said: "What a strange year this year! Can even cow dung be exported? Such a big ship is dedicated to hauling cattle Manure, what is it used for?"

“Cow dung is a good thing, but it’s really unheard of to transport so much cow dung by boat. Cow dung has never been transported out of Mombasa in the past.”

“I heard that these ships are from the Northern Province and Juba Province. Isn’t that a desert? Are you hauling so much cow dung there to use as fuel?”

"It's really possible. The desert lacks everything, like there are no trees or grass. So what do they use to make fire for cooking?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I asked the old man on the boat. They said that these cow dung are fermented fertilizers that are brought to the north and applied to the fields. Their agricultural experts there said that these cow dungs ​​are used to cultivate fruits. .”

Workers at Mombasa Port were talking a lot. It was not that they were particularly fond of cow dung, but that the smell was really strong and the contrast with the goods usually transported was too strong.

As for the issue of fuel, Northern Province and Juba Province are really scarce, but it is not necessary to import cow dung from other places to use as fuel. Local camel dung and wood cut from the west are the main sources of fuel in the two provinces.

 In ancient times, Arabs were accustomed to using camel dung to make fires for cooking. This tradition was still retained in many Arab regions in the 19th century, and the two provinces of Somalia under the rule of East Africa naturally retained this habit.

In addition to the 15% of the forests in the traditional area, the Somali region in East Africa also includes large forests in the southeastern mountains of the Ethiopian plateau. There are also some wheat fields in the two river basins (Juba River, Shabelle River), and wheat straw after the harvest. Very good fuel.

Not only the workers at the Mombasa Port find it novel, people in the northern pastoral areas are also interested in this year’s cow dung market, because cow dung was a sought-after item in previous years. Many southern provinces imported it from the northern pastoral areas, but this year’s cow dung in Juba and Northern Provinces Joining in, the cow dung production capacity, which is already in short supply in northern pastoral areas, is even more tense.

 …

 Merti Ranch, Oriental Province.

Li Ersen, an agricultural technician, told the ranch workers: “Raw cow dung is easy to breed bacteria. Therefore, in ranches that do not handle cow dung carefully, cow dung often affects the breeding groups.

At the same time, because cow manure can generate heat, it will deplete the oxygen content of the soil and cause burning of roots and seedlings, which also has a negative impact on the growth of grass in the pasture.

Furthermore, feces can also spread parasites and pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, pastures without cow manure treatment will be harmed by parasites, and even cause the pasture breeding groups to be infected with diseases. "

“Therefore, the removal of cow dung from pastures in northern East Africa is a big ecological problem. If it is not solved in place, it will not only cause damage to the environment, but more importantly, it will affect the development of the livestock industry in East Africa as a whole.”

Leersen is not exaggerating. The number of livestock in the northern rangelands of East Africa will have an important impact on the northern rangeland region every year.

This was especially noticeable ten years ago. A large ranch might produce tens of thousands of tons of manure every year. At that time, there were hundreds of such large ranches in northern East Africa. The odor emitted and the damage to the pastures were visible to the naked eye. It can be seen that things are much better now. The East African government has effectively utilized and managed cow dung.

Li Ersen continued: "Last year our Melty Ranch alone produced a total of 30,000 tons of cow dung, 80% of which was exported to southern plantations and grain-producing areas for soil improvement.

Cow dung helps to improve the soil structure and increase the soil's water-holding capacity. Many lands in East Africa are seriously hardened. In addition to improving soil fertility, the most important thing about fermented cow dung is to make the soil in the fields more fluffy. This is also why cow dung is used as fertilizer. an important advantage. ” ˆ ˆ “As far as we know, the Somali region recently plans to introduce large quantities of cow dung from the pastoral areas of Oriental Province to increase the production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. "

"So one of our important tasks is to thoroughly process cow dung. Cow dung must be fermented to make fertilizer, and it can be used only after it is fully fermented and decomposed. If fresh cow dung is applied to the field, the heat released during fermentation may be It will harm the plants and may introduce pathogens into the soil, so the fermentation must be sufficient to kill the eggs and microorganisms in the cow dung.”

 At present, large ranches in East Africa have allocated special land to accumulate cow dung for fermentation. Most of these lands are originally barren, so they are not afraid of causing damage to the pastures.

 Some small ranches do not have this condition, so the local government will designate areas for small ranches to send these excrements for treatment.

 While the supply of cow dung exceeds demand, large pastures such as Melty Ranch have reserved part of it, mainly for making fuel.

 At present, in many parts of Europe, fuel has been developing in the direction of coal, especially the United Kingdom.

 In the 18th century, Britain's coal production was already five times that of the rest of the world combined. Even so, the British still felt that coal mining was too slow.

 In this context, the British invented the original "steam engine" and quickly applied it to coal mining.

Before coal, the main fuel for the British was firewood, which required large-scale deforestation. In addition to being used for cooking and heating, wood was also critical to other manufacturing fields, such as houses, household appliances, farm tools, containers, and other related items. Important ships. The British Navy reacted very strongly. They were worried that the forest crisis would seriously affect the development of the naval fleet, so the British completely enforced the law to replace firewood with coal.

Many areas in East Africa are also facing fuel problems, and the demand for wood for warships and ships also exists.

The northern pastoral area is obviously more problematic than the southern region of East Africa in terms of fuel issues. It is completely dominated by grassland, with relatively sparse forests and no large farmland.

 In other rural areas of East Africa, wheat straw, rice straw, and corn stalks are used together with firewood. Even Somalia has grain agriculture, so the fuel problem is relatively easy to solve.

 The northern pastures are mainly based on animal husbandry, and grasslands are also relatively short of fuel. After all, grassland vegetation is not as easy to harvest and use as fuel as in forests.

The benefits of cow dung as fuel are evident. Of course, the cow dung in the northern pasture area is definitely not dried and burned directly like the Indians do.

Rather, it is crushed into powder and then added with coal ash to make cow dung briquettes. The burning effect of cow dung briquettes is slightly better than that of ordinary briquettes, mainly because there is less smoke.

Because the coal in northern pastures mainly relies on coal mines in the northern industrial belt, and the quality of coal mines in the northern industrial belt is very poor, which will cause a lot of losses when burned. However, adding cow dung powder can burn more fully. Furthermore, this kind of cattle Fecal briquettes are also suitable for industrial production, so they have become an important industry in northern pastures and are also supplied to surrounding cities, such as Nairobi and Mombasa.

 In addition to these, cow dung can also be used to produce other animal feeds and used to raise pigs, chickens, fish, etc.

 Hence, the cow dung economy has become an important part of the East African economy and has an important impact on the East African environment, energy, production, and life. Overall, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

 (End of this chapter)