The nitrogen metabolism of growing sub‑Saharan cities and their prospect for shifting from regional sinks to sustainable city region food systems

Wassenaar Tom, Bodo Bachirou S., Hilou Adama, Rochelle-Newall Emma. 2023. The nitrogen metabolism of growing sub‑Saharan cities and their prospect for shifting from regional sinks to sustainable city region food systems. Regional Environmental Change, 23:71, 14 p.

Liste HCERES des revues (en SHS) : oui

Thème(s) HCERES des revues (en SHS) : Géographie-Aménagement-Urbanisme-Architecture

Résumé : Urban development trajectories in sub-Saharan Africa are unsustainable. Fast-growing cities constitute nutrient sinks relying on nutrient-poor hinterlands. We propose a pragmatic waste flow assessment providing authorities with a cross-sectoral view of a city's nutrient sink status. Following a nested approach, we focus on the origin and fate of a city's nutrient-containing waste flows, constituting a partial urban metabolism. Application of this method for nitrogen to Maradi, Niger, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, shows that the city of Maradi is a nitrogen sink in a still rather sustainable city region food system. Maradi's Territorial Sustenance index, expressing net N provision from within the territorial system as a share of urban throughput, is around 79%. But Maradi may well be set to evolve towards a situation similar to that of Ouagadougou: a large nitrogen sink with no significant city-hinterland recycling. Ouagadougou exhibits a Territorial Sustenance index of about 5%. Urination constitutes the dominant nitrogen loss pathway and urine-collecting initiatives could provide valuable fertilizer adapted to local agricultural requirements and constraints, increasing the urban system's sustainability by enhancing regional food provision as well as by reducing sanitation-induced urban water pollution.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : développement régional, durabilité, systèmes alimentaires, développement durable, azote, urbanisation, métabolisme de l'azote, déchet urbain, ville, métabolisme, agriculture durable

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Burkina Faso, Niger

Mots-clés libres : Metabolism, Nitrogen, City region food system, Nutrient sink, Urine, Recycling

Classification Agris : F04 - Fertilisation
P10 - Ressources en eau et leur gestion
Q70 - Traitement des déchets agricoles

Champ stratégique Cirad : CTS 2 (2019-) - Transitions agroécologiques

Agences de financement hors UE : McKnight Foundation, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement

Auteurs et affiliations

• Wassenaar Tom, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR Recyclage et risque (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0002-0098-5503 - auteur correspondant
• Bodo Bachirou S., Tillaberi University (NER)
• Hilou Adama, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo (BFA)
• Rochelle-Newall Emma, IRD (FRA)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/605464/)

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