10 reasons to support DeCo!
- Reduce Soil Degradation and Erosion
DeCo! improves the long term soil fertility in a region which is burdened by bad soil quality. The application of organic fertilizer leads to a better water and nutrient holding capacity.
- Improve Food Security Applying
DeCo! fertilizer enables farmers to harvest higher yield from their land. Thereby our product makes farming more profitable and improves food security.
- Job Creation
The dry season in the North is characterized by a lack of work for local people. In many cases they migrate to the south for work, which causes major social problems. DeCo! operates in the dry season and uses a labour-intensive composting technology. As a result many jobs for local people in the villages are created and migration to the South is reduced.
- Reduce GHG Emissions
Diverting organic waste from going to a poorly managed landfill, DeCo! avoids methane emissions. Furthermore, GHG emissions are reduced by substituting chemical fertilizer and reduced agricultural land expansion. On average, DeCo! saves around up to 1 ton CO2-equivalent emissions per ton of organic fertilizer.
- Improve Waste Management
Composting is an important element of sustainable waste management as it offers a way of processing the organic waste fraction. Composting reduces the amount of waste to be transported and disposed of, thus also reducing negative effects to the environment and closes the natural nutrient cycle.
- Participatory Approach
DeCo! works and operates in rural areas close to its supply and its customers. Since local people supply the inputs, labour and use the product, DeCo! involves them as much as possible. Organized group discussions and interviews on a regular basis help to improve the whole process and increase the benefits for the farmers. DeCo! trusts on indigenous proficiency as much as on scientific knowledge.
- Diverse and Qualified Team
More information about the team.
- Strong partnerships
DeCo! maintains stong links to stakeholders in the region. These include contacts to local NGOs, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and local research and teaching institutions like the University of Development Studies (UDS) and the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI). Moreover, Dr. Konrad Schleiss (UMWEKO GmbH) advises DeCo! on compost technology and Codrin Kruijne (Utrecht University) on business development. The company myclimate partners with DeCo! on developing a CDM project.
- Transparency and Publicity
Transparency is one core value of DeCo! . All monetary transactions are documented transparently and overhead costs are kept as low as possible. Extensive business and research reports are published on a regular basis.
- Sustainable business creation
DeCo! is a social business (registered as NGO), which aims to solve important social and environmental problems. The top financial goal is to be sustainable and breakt-even by the first year after the pilot phase.
