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Zero waste agriculture is a type of sustainable agriculture which optimizes use of the five natural kingdoms, i.e. plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and algae, to produce biodiverse-food, energy and nutrients in a synergistic integrated cycle of profit making processes where the waste of each process becomes the feedstock for another process.
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The biogas digester is the heart of most zero waste agriculture (ZWA) systems. It is a 3000 year old anaerobic digestion process. [1]
The integration of shallow microaglal oxidisation ponds was demonstrated by Golueke & Oswald in the 1960's. The widespread global implementation of these systems can be largely credited to Prof George Chan from ZERI. [2] Zero waste agriculture is now practiced in China (ecological farming), Columbia (integrated food & waste management systems) & Fiji (integrated farming systems), India (integrated biogas farming), South Africa (BEAT Coop & African Agroecological Biotechnology Initiative) and Mauritius. The Brazilian government has adopted integrated farming system as a major social technology for the uplifting of marginalized and subsistence farmers through coordination with TECPAR. [3]
Zero waste agriculture combines mature ecological farming practices that delivers an integrated balance of job creation, poverty relief, food security, energy security, water conservation, climate change relief, land security & stewardship.
Zero waste agriculture is optimally practiced on small 1-5 ha sized family owned and managed farms and it complements traditional farming & animal husbandry as practiced in in most third world communities. Zero Waste Agriculture also preserves local indigenous systems and existing agrarian cultural values and practices.
Zero waste agriculture presents a balance of economically, socially and ecologically benefits as it:
In sunny climates, a one hectare zero waste farm can produce over 1000 litres of oil in a year from the chlorella microalgae grown on biogas digester effluent in a 500m2 shallow pond. The nutritive high protein waste from the oil extraction process can be used as an animal feed.