Impact of Safisana Waste-to-Energy Plant in Ghana Urban Poor (Slum) Communities on Socioeconomic and Environmental Development

For many densely populated settlements, availability of clean and hygienic sanitation as well as management of solid and liquid waste poses a huge problem–often it strains the environment and agriculture deteriorate from famished soil. Energy recovery from waste can solve two problems at once: treating non-recyclable and non-reusable amounts of waste and generating a significant amount of energy that can be included in the energy production mix. Safisana, which operates in the Ashaiman settlement in Ghana, is a circular-waste management system that collects organic waste to produce and market clean renewable energy and organic fertilizer. This study uses a multidimensional design approach that combines semi-structured interviews, sampling survey, and baseline data to test the impact of the operation of Safisana on health, economic empowerment, social impact, environmental impact, and the empowerment of youth. The outcome of this study is expected to guide whether Safisana operations should be scaled to other regions in Ghana or similar contexts in West Africa. Results forthcoming