RCE Port Harcourt - 2019

Mitigating Global Warming Through Alternative Disposal of Used Mushroom Substrates
CSV
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Mitigating Global Warming Through Alternative Disposal of Used Mushroom Substrates
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Port Harcourt
Contributing organization(s) : 
1) Institute of Agricultural Research and Development, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
2) Science Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
3) Foundation for Agric and Social Transformation, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
I. Etela
Organizational Affiliation: 
IARD, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
E-mail: 
ibisiime.etela@uniport.edu.ng
Name: 
O. Akaranta
Organizational Affiliation: 
UniPort, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
E-mail: 
onyewuchi.akaranta@uniport.edu.ng
Format of project: 
PowerPoint
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Sunday, May 5, 2019
Web link: 
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/jswt/jswt/2018/00000044/00000001/art00002
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
Yes
The project links to SDG 13 (Climate Change) and SDG 15 (Life on Land)
At what level is the policy operating?: 
International
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Africa and Middle East
Country: 
Nigeria
Location(s): 
Choba Community
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Institute of Agricultural Research and Development, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Nigeria
Ecosystem(s):
Agricultural, Coastal
Target Audience:
Community, Higher
Farmers
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Choba is a coastal community located in Rivers State, Nigeria. Chiba is a suburb of Port Harcourt,
which is the Capital City of Rivers State. The community is also part of the host communities and a
major stakeholder in the governance of the University of Port Harcourt, which hosts RCE Port Harcourt The project area is a humid zone with lots of rainforest and mangrovee forests that have remained largely underexploited in recent times due to erosion of the conventional ecosystem services these forest resources normally provide. This loss of potentials from the ecosystem among others is largely due to the unguided activities of local artisanal oil refining with huge environmental costs leaving the major part of the mangrove forest deforested from crude oil-related pollutions.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
The project area, located in what is popularly referred to as the Niger Delta is situated in the south-south
geopolitical zone of Nigeria, which is also the hub of oil and gas business in Nigeria. Although the inhabitants
of the project area are predominantly farmers and fisherfolk, their traditional sources of livelihoods have not
received so much attention due to very high preference for revenues fro oil and gas. The result has been a decline in the agrosector. However, recent attention paid to agriculture under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (initiated by the immediate Federal Administration of Nigeria) and now consolidated under the present leadership in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The need to make the agricultural sector more responsive to global aspirations as indicated via the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the key motivation for the project being reported.
Contents
Status: 
Completed
Period: 
March, 2014 to October, 2018
Rationale: 
Increased interest in mushroom production and consumption in Nigeria due to increasing awareness about its nutritional value means the use of more substrates and the production of not only the mushrooms for human consumption but, also the production of large tons of used mushroom substrates. The need to utilise otherwise wastes from timber and wood works (such as wood shavings and sawdust) converting them into useful materials for growing healthy mushrooms while, also making the wastes more utilisable by farm animals makes the project very worthwhile. Thereby helping to reduce green house gas emission and mitigating global warming to prevent predicted climate change.
Objectives: 
1) To determine chemical composition of used substrates from three mushroom species.
2) To estimate methane gas production from he used mushroom substrates from three species.
3) To evaluate in vitro dry matter digestibility of three mushroom species grown on sawdust.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
1. Samples of used mushroom substrates were obtained from the Mushroom Unit of the Demonstration Farm, University of Port Harcourt and Bazaleel Mushroom Farm, Rivers State.
2. Chemical composition were determined on the three used mushroom substrates using the AOAC (2002) procedures after drying the samples at 60ºC for 72 hours.
3. The in vitro gas production method as described by Menke and Steingass (1988) was used to estimate gas and methane gas production and dry matter digestibility from the samples.
4. Data obtained were analysed using appropriate statistical software (SAS, 2002).
Size of academic audience: 
It reached about 300 direct persons, and shall reach over 15,000 via the published media.
Results: 
The major finding from the study indicated that, used mushroom substrate could be converted to beneficial products such as meat for humans instead of causing environmental nuisance when left to decay in heaps in the open air. Species of mushroom differ in their level of utilisation and methane gas (a greenhouse) emission from livestock fed such new feed resources.
Lessons learned: 
Sawdust often considered heaps of environmental wastes could be converted to beneficial economic products to boost animal-source protein production for human consumption with reduced greenhouse gas (methane) emission. Thus, it is a pathway for waste-to-wealth.
Key messages: 
Mushrooms grown on sawdust could transform such materials to more digestible feed resources.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
The project falls under the sub-project Waste-to-Wealth under the project Poverty Reduction and
Human Capital Development, which is one of the three core projects of RCE Port Harcourt.
Funding: 
Cash and in-kind supports ere received from RCE Port Harcourt, the non-governmental organisation partner (Foundation for Agric and Social Transformation, FAST) and the farms where the materials were sourced from.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Indirect
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all 
Indirect
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Indirect
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Direct
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 
Direct
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Direct
Theme
Traditional Knowledge  
Indirect
Agriculture 
Direct
Waste 
Direct
Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development – Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
Indirect
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
Direct
Update: 
No