Mining & Trade News

With Malawi’s import bill skyrocketing partly due to huge imports of fertilizer, there is need for innovation to utilize local resources to manufacture the product locally. Patrick Lunda engaged Dr Jabulani Nyegere, a Lecturer in Geoinformatics at Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) who is Coordinator of the project to produce granulated fertilizer from a mixture of urine and rocks to find out how far he has gone with the project. Excerpts:  

I would like to know the background of this project?

The MUST granulated fertilizer idea was conceptualized around 2022 in the middle of my doctorate studies at Kyoto University, Japan. During this time, I was working on spatial soil heterogeneity and its impact on crop production. The study revealed variability in soil physical and chemical properties that significantly affect the soil amendments options used by farmers in Malawi. More importantly, local organic fertilizer, including urine, suffers greatly because of variability in soil physical properties. I established that significant nitrogen is lost in sandy soils through leaching and volatilization. Against this background and considering the potential of urine in providing alternative cheap sources of nitrogen like chemical fertilizer, I started research to find ways of turning the liquid urine into a form that can allow maize access to all the nitrogen in the urine for improved yield.

Why did you decide to go for this?

Considering the high cost of inorganic fertilizer, I thought it is important to develop organic fertilizer that can be accessed by smallholder farmers at lower prices. On the other hand, smallholder farmers indicated that the odour of liquid urine fertilizer discourages them from using this fertilizer. In this regard, I also decided to make granulated fertilizer that is user friendly and can easily be adopted by farmers. Again, as a lecturer in a university that focuses on innovation, science, technology and entrepreneurship for the people, I decided to use the skills and knowledge during my studies and combine it with what we teach our students to develop this granulated fertilizer.

How will it be done?

The current granulated urine fertilizer is made from a blend of special rocks and liquid urine. The product was developed after a series of lab experiments to establish the optimal combination of raw materials to have the right inorganic fertilizer. We are glad here at MUST that the product has passed the development stage and pre-testing has started at Bvumbwe Research Station in collaboration with other scientists from the Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS). We will continue with testing the fertilizer in all agroecological zones with partners from DARS. What raw materials will you use? This organic fertilizer is made from locally available rocks and liquid urine. The materials undergo physical and chemical processes to extract the ingredients for the product.

Where will they be acquired?

Plans are underway to acquire the rock deposits for sustainable access to the rocks that will be used for the continued production of the fertilizer. The urine will also be collected from local urinals that will divert the urine for fertilizer development.

How unique is the fertilizer as compared to others from local and international companies?

The granulated urine fertilizer is produced from a blend of rocks and liquid urine. This product is different from what other local and international companies maybe producing in its nature and composition of the ingredients.

How much have you invested in this project? Do you have any funding from anywhere?

We have invested a significant amount of resources in the project, both human and financial. Currently, we have secured funding through FAR-LEAF II Fellowship, which will help in procurement of a fertilizer granulation machine. This will facilitate timely production of granulated fertilizer for further testing and registration for mass production soon.

When will commercial production start?

The production started in 2024 with few quantities for testing and registration. We are continuing with our project to produce more bags for testing during rainfed and irrigation maize growing for the 2025/2026 growing season. This will provide enough scientific evidence on the performance of fertilizers for continued production for national use by farmers.

What impact will it have on the institution?

According to the MUST 2024-2030 strategic plan, the granulated fertilizer will bring tangible impacts in areas of industrialization, people and society, and research excellence. This is possible through combination of innovative research to address the problems faced by communities in the country, which will in the long run provide sustainable solution for improved agricultural production and commercialization as articulated in Malawi’s long-term development aspirations (Malawi 2063). Additionally, the granulated fertilizer from MUST will also provide a benchmark for production of other fertilizers that will use locally available resources and instill the mindset of Ndizotheka among the scientists and innovators in Malawi. As an inhouse industry, staff and students will also use the fertilizer for further studies and the company will create jobs for communities around MUST and across Malawi. Our students will also have room for internship attachments. In the long run, we want to help government in import substitution as you know Malawi spends huge sums of foreign exchange to import chemical fertilizer for the Agriculture Input Program (AIP). We see ourselves being one of the suppliers for the AIP.

What is the production capacity?

At MUST, we have sophisticated machinery with specific mention to rock crusher and pulverizer that are critical for preparation of raw materials before further processing in our state-of-the-art laboratories. The expected procurement of granulation machines will allow production of several bags of fertilizer within a day, thereby increasing our capacity to align with market demand.

How many staff will be or have been employed?

At present, we have several staff members at MUST and DARS involved in the project but they are not under employment perse. However, we will be having full time staff members immediately after registration of the fertilizer following the testing in the next growing season. I believe that the early years of mass production will need more than 50 full-time employees, and this will provide sustainable employment of both skilled and unskilled labour from the country.

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