Counties to showcase inventions at Nairobi forum

World Bank and county officials tour the Kang'oki landfill project in Thika, Kiambu County. It is one of the projects to be showcased during an innovations forum to be held in Nairobi in June, courtesy of the Council of Governors and WB. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The conference dubbed 'Innovations and Learning Forum' is scheduled to take place between June 15 and 17, 2017.
  • Kiambu's waste management project at Kang'oki dumpsite in Thika is one of the innovations that will be showcased.
  • It has been converting solid waste into biodegradable products.

The Council of Governors (CoG), in partnership with the World Bank, will in June host a two-day innovations forum in Nairobi.

During the meeting, select counties will get an opportunity to showcase the innovations they have developed since the start of devolution to offer solutions to challenges facing them in the fields of agribusiness, agriculture, skills development and waste management, among others.

The conference dubbed 'Innovations and Learning Forum' is scheduled to take place between June 15 and 17, 2017.

Different counties will exhibit their innovations so that others, potential partners and donors get a chance to learn how to solve problems in their regions.

KIAMBU PROJECT

Kiambu County's waste management project at the Kang'oki dumpsite in Thika is one of the innovations that will be showcased at the forum.

Speaking during a tour of the site by World Bank consultants and CoG representatives, Kiambu Deputy Governor Gerald Githinji said the facility, a first one in Africa but yet to be fully made operational, has so far helped a great deal in managing the industrial town's and entire county's waste there.

It has been converting solid waste into biodegradable products.

The Kang'oki landfill project in Thika, Kiambu County. It is one of the projects to be showcased during an innovations forum in Nairobi in June. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

RECYCLING

"When waste material is brought in, workers sort out plastic materials from the rest and take them to a new pyrolysis plant that will soon be commissioned for commercial production of oil," he said.

The county hopes that through the forum, it will attract investors to help speed up the remaining bit to make the site that occupies more than 100 acres fully operational.

"We are in the process of acquiring a recycling plant that will assist us in sorting organics from plastics which will then be sold to the pyrolysis plant.

“Currently, over 600 youth and women are engaged in manual waste collection and sorting waste from different places all over the county while others have been deployed at the dumpsite," said the county’s Environment, Water and Natural Resources Chief Executive Esther Njuguna.