Liz Dymock in Malawi. Commercial composting program- a solution to manage organic waste.
Member Liz Dymock made a quick visit to Melbourne from Malawi with her new husband, Kondwani Charula. During a recent RPM meeting, Liz was interviewed by President Jenny and also took the opportunity to share her life and work in Malawi
Liz originally spent between 2012-2014 working in Malawi with marginalised Muslim women assisting them to improve food security and become self - sufficient. After studying for a Master’s degree in International Relations/ Trade and Commercial Law Liz returned to Malawi in 2020. Liz also worked with RPMers, Dr Charles Foster on environmental protection projects and this was her initial connection to our club.
She began working for “Waste Advisors” a Malawi Non- Government Organisation as Project manager in the capital city, Harare. This non- profit specialises in solid and liquid waste management dealing with private and public sector companies.
According to Liz, organic waste takes up 80-90% of general refuse that creates problems in Malawi. Organic waste is left as landfill to disintegrate into the soil with harmful chemicals leaching into the soil. Malawi unfortunately does not have an infrastructure to deal with waste management although there are laws in place.
A solution that Liz is working on involves building up a commercial composting site where waste can be directed to, instead of citizens taking matters into their own hands. This is a safe method to dispose of waste especially when 80% of people are farmers who use synthetic fertilisers. This results in acidification of soil and poor soil structure. Top soil is continually lost so commercial supported composting is a valuable resource to keep soil healthy for future generations.
Questions and interesting discussions followed Liz’s interview. Our member from Timor Leste, Leopoldina Guterres led the way. Leo wanted to know how this type of business model might be transferred to Timor. One important aspect of planning such an enterprise according to Liz is to have a strong relationship with the local community who are the stakeholders. Liz said that she will contact Leo to share ideas in detail when she returns to Malawi.
There were contributions from local and international members regarding waste management in their own countries. It seems that urbanisation is happening very fast and communities all over the world have problems keeping up with waste disposal.