Impacts of Urban Agriculture Annual Report.p65 - International ...

tours offered all over the country. In 2002, it wasestimated that there were more than 1.3 millionmotorbikes in Hanoi (1 motorbike per 2 people onaverage) and by 2004 the estimate was up to 2 millionmotorbikes. They are used for family transportation,taxis and for cargo. For the trip to the Cat Que villages,the highly liquid institutional and restaurant foodresidues are carried in sealable blue plastic barrels,which hold about 70 kilos each. A motorbike can beloaded with three of these barrels: one on each side ofthe rear wheel, a third behind the driver and sometimesa small container is even placed between the legs ofthe driver on the bike frame. The larger the volume, themore the reduction in transport costs. Nevertheless,transportation logistics are complex, because even aslight, sudden swerve of the motorbike can set off thesloshing dynamics within the barrels that can cause thebike, rider and cargo to slew off the road.The pigs in Cat Que villages grow fat on these gourmetwastes, which are used as the major feed source. For eachof the two feedings a day they are boiled up in largecauldrons, added on top of local agricultural productsto prevent sticking, for about 1.5 hours, over fires fueledby coal slurry. Rice bran is added a few minutes towardthe end of the boiling time. One or two trips to the cityper day are required, depending on the number of pigs.Though animal nutritionists say three feedings wouldbe better, the constraints of time simply rule out thispossibility. Sometimes the women’s first trip into thecity is at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. to sell vegetables, returning at5:00am, when the husbands leave to fetch the foodresidues for the pigs. Between two and five hours oflabor time a day is required for transport. This tends tobe men’s work because of the heavy, unstable load.Although no nutritional analysis of the food wastes hasbeen concluded yet, the residues from restaurants andfood preparing institutions are thought to be highlynutritious, although they have to be picked over becauseof small inorganic objects that get mixed in, such assmall plastic bottles. Tofu residues can also be purchasedfrom many small-scale tofu enterprises in Hanoi, but aremore expensive and farmers generally agree restaurantwaste is higher in nutrients and better for fattening pigs,even though the supply of tofu residues is more secure.Commercial supplements are used sparingly to staywithin the narrow profit margin.Even though the residents of Cat Que have significanteconomic advantage over traditional farming orlivestock raising, they would like to explore thepossibilities of further improving the profitability andresolving the problem of waste and environment.Ironically, while recycling restaurant residues from Hanoipartially alleviates one environmental hazard, theincreased volume of resident pigs causes another in CatQue. Measures to manage or eliminate the waste needto be identified. One possibility is to construct canalsso the waste can be directed away from the communeinto a holding tank for disposal. Pig manure is anexcellent fertilizer. If the manure can be processed intoa higher quality and value fertilizer, the market will alsoopen up. It is, therefore, possible to experiment withsmall scale manure processing, but it would be betterto adopt larger scale processing.There are enough raw materials for fertilizer processingon a large scale. This would, however, require majorinvestment that must be provided either by thegovernment or private investors. To attract such aninvestment from either party, analysis must beperformed to demonstrate the extent of the economicand environmental benefits.15