Presented by Grace Cheserek at the CLEANED Project East Africa Stakeholder Consultation on Dairy and Environment Nairobi, Kenya, 18 September 2013

1. Challenges in assessing impacts inChallenges in assessing impacts in
dairy farming and dairy processingdairy farming and dairy processing
Grace Cheserek (PhD)
Environmental Impact Assessment (NEMA)
CLEANED Project East Africa Stakeholder Consultation on Dairy and
Environment Nairobi, Kenya, 18 September 2013

2. IntroductionIntroduction
Environment- includes the physical
factors of the surroundings of human
beings including land, water, atmosphere,
climate, sound, odour, taste, the
biological factors of animals and plants
and the social factor of aesthetics and
includes both the natural and the built
environment;

3. Environmnetal Impact AssessmentEnvironmnetal Impact Assessment
EIA- a systematic examination
conducted to determine whether or not
a policy, program, activity or project will
have any adverse impacts on the
environment.
EIA Process involves:
 Screening - decide whether the
development project requires an EIA
process or not.

4. Cont…Cont…
Presentation of the legal framework;
Scoping- identification of mitigation
measures;
Development of Environment
Management Plan (EMP);
Generation and presentation of EIA
report to National Environmental
Management Authority (NEMA) - for
examination and issuance of license for
proposed project OR REJECTION

5. Identifying ImpactsIdentifying Impacts
Water quality problem- high ground
water nitrate concentration due to
manure and fertilizer applied to land for
silage and corn production
Excess nitrate on drinking water- cause
blue baby syndrome esp. infants.
In adults more than 10mg/L may cause
chronic anemia and gastric disease

6. Cont…Cont…
Organic milk products- water
removed from the milk can contain
considerable amounts of organic milk
products and minerals.
Waste water- Cleaning of plant results
in caustic wastewater. Methods of
reducing the total volume of wastewater
released.
Recovering dissolved material and
greater recycling of water.

7. Cont….Cont….
The organic components of the
wastewater from dairy processing
operations can be classified as: proteins,
lactose and fat. These will affect the
environment in different ways depending
on their biodegradability and solubility.

8. Cont…Cont…
River Oxygen Levels and BOD Measures -
the amount of oxygen that are consumed by
bacteria are the Biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD5) and the chemical oxygen demand
(COD). BOD5 is measured as the amount of
oxygen that is consumed by bacteria in
decomposing the waste over a 5 day period at
20 C20 C.
Solid waste from animals and fodder- these to
be converted to Humus for producing more
fodder.

9. Cont…Cont…
Sewage Fungus- Low molecular weight
organic compounds promote the growth of
certain filamentous slimes in waterways
common bacterial species in this category is
Sphaerotilus natans
Colour and Turbidity -Wastewaters that
are highly coloured are likely to alter the
colour of a receiving water. Dairy factory
wastes contains little soluble colour,
although after various forms of treatment
true colour may result.

10. Cont…Cont…
Temperature- usual to require that wastewater
discharges will not alter the natural temperature of a
waterway by more than 1-2 degrees.
Gaseous Emissions- Boiler stacks result in
emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides and
nitrogen oxides to the atmosphere.
Methane may be emitted from anaerobic waste
treatment systems and nitrous oxide (N2O) is
emitted from the soil at wastewater irrigation sites.
Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are very
important greenhouse gases, and it is likely that the
consequences of these emissions will need to be
considered

11. ChallengesChallenges
Environmental awareness and its
conservation- awareness and capacity
building for community dairy farmers and
processors
Policy- inadequate policy on sustainable
dairy farming
 Initial costs for constructing biogas
infrastructure; zero grazing, water quality
monitoring etc

12. East African perspectiveEast African perspective
Eco- farming- manure goes to farm and
producing biogas
Managing waste
Reduction in the generation of waste.
Reuse of waste materials/by-products.
Recycling of waste materials.
Sustainable poverty reduction cycle –
CBO are giving families dairy for forest
management

13. PhotosPhotos

14. ConclusionConclusion
Dairy projects should embrace
environmental assessment for
sustainability
Its possible!
We can achieve it!
The farmers are ready!