By EBELE ORAKPO
In order to create jobs and contribute to the development of their host state, researchers at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State, are working towards improving the economic and environmental efficiency of all the industries in the state.

In this chat with Vanguard Learning, a member of the team, Mr. Fardeen Dodo, an instructor in the School of Business and Entrepreneurship, speaks on his interest in promoting sustainable entrepreneurship in rural agricultural settings.
Excerpts:

Fardeen Dodo, a 2009 graduate of Agricultural Economics & Extension from the Bayero University Kano and a master’s in Renewable Energy, Enterprise and Management from University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and currently studying Global Poverty online with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says he is interested in how sustainable entrepreneurship could be promoted in a rural agricultural setting.

According to Fardeen, the team is looking at a situation where they could replicate what happens in the tropical rain forest where little or nothing is wasted. They aim to turn an open system into a closed loop so that the waste from one industry could become the input for another industry.

“The desired goal is formulation of a sustainable regional development plan that will simultaneously cut resource use, encourage resource re-use and increase the environmental and economic performance of the entire region’s industries,” said the researchers.
“I am doing a lot of work currently in rural communities in Adamawa State, working on how we can use information and communications technology and how we can facilitate entrepreneurship in rural communities. One of the researches is called industrial ecology,” said Fardeen.

Industrial ecology:
“One of the most effective systems on earth is the tropical rain forest. If the sun comes out, almost all the sun (heat and light) is captured. When somebody is working in the forest, sometimes it is not very bright because some of the light is trapped by the leaves and then when the leaves fall, they get back to the soil and the crops make use of it. There is not much waste. I thought about how to apply the same principle in cities; so we designed how industrial ecology could be used to increase economic and environmental efficiency of industries,” he said.

Fardeen noted that applying the industrial ecology principle will enhance productivity and  increase profitability as resources are used and reused repeatedly.

Evaluating potential industries:
Giving the example of  Afcott Nigeria Plc., Fardeen said:
“In Afcott , we realised that they use a lot of soy beans but then, they don’t get soybeans from Adamawa State, they get it from Benue State so we are now thinking of having farmers out in some villages to produce soybeans for Afcott so we can keep the money within Adamawa State and at the same time, reduce the burden on the environment. You don’t really need to burn fuel to go to Benue; even if you can, it is not really a fantastic thing to do.

So we evaluate current industries, think out potential industries based on resource sourcing, may be providing resource locally instead of getting it from elsewhere and then from the waste; and buying products generated. So that is what we mean by evaluating potential industries.

Identifying linkages:
“Here, we intend to link the industries – what industry should work with the new category of enterprises – and then juxtapose everything and come up with a plan.”

How it works:
Explaining how a closed system works  mimicking the tropical rain forest, Fardeen said: “Supposing we have a coal-fired power plant, the waste water that comes out of the power plant goes to an oil refinery. The steam goes towards the refinery instead of going up into the atmosphere. It is used to heat the refinery so that the energy they will use will be reduced. The steam also goes to a pharmaceutical plant where some of it is used.

Then the waste heat goes to a green house (where the weather gets extremely cold) towards growing crops in the green house. Also, part of the waste heat goes into the heating systems in housing districts. The fly ash goes towards making cement and the waste gypsum goes towards making wallboard which is what Americans use instead of paint.

So basically, what we are doing in Yola right now is to evaluate what current industries there are, what potential industries exist and optimize where opportunities are, and then formulate a regional development plan.
“Now, the way this works is to understand the industries that exist, what resources they use and what they produce. Where are they getting the resources from? What outputs do they produce? What could be recycled and what could be reused from there? Do they have any by product that could serve as an input to another new industry?

So basically, understanding what resources are being used and where they are coming from so we can innovate enterprises that can produce those resources locally and then what outputs are coming out of the industries, what can be recycled, what can be reused and then identify opportunities for establishing new industries.

This could lead to two things –employment creation and generation of economic opportunities for people and secondly, it will increase the environmental efficiency of all the industries in the state. That will, over time, generally reduce the cost of production in this area because the economy will be efficient.

“When waste paper comes out of the university, it goes straight to an industry that uses waste paper to produce other things. So the cost of production will generally reduce and the entire region will be a centre of investment because it is going to be more efficient to invest money here as you spend less to do business. This will create a general economic advantage for the whole area.

Increasing synergy:
“Students collected data from a vast majority of enterprises, the raw materials they use, energy input and where they are getting them from. That will give us an idea of where inputs are coming from and then we think of how to get the inputs from the state. You know having the inputs come from other places will cost more and so we can have something reasonable enough to float a new industry that will be producing those inputs locally.

They also collected data on outputs – by-products, wastes, where they are taking the wastes to and what they are doing with them currently so we know how else we can use them. This will increase synergy and it will eliminate unnecessary competition. Do you really need to start a new industry in the same thing that already exists? May be if everybody supports one another, it is going to be better than if everybody competes and fights.”