ACED is a small organisation made up of young Beninese engineers.
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), listed among the world’s 100 most invasive species, is proliferating dangerously in the waters of Lake Nokoué, an internationally important RAMSAR site, to the point of covering almost its entire surface during flood periods. Beyond blocking waterways and paralysing fishing activities, its presence causes severe eutrophication of the environment and fatal anoxia for aquatic communities, on which more than 150 bird species and a large part of the region’s economy depend (Lake Nokoué is considered the most productive lake in West Africa). While it absorbs excess nitrates from the water, it also blocks natural UV disinfection of the water in a lake already heavily impacted by faecal waste from the lake-dwelling settlement of Ganvié, and releases significant methane emissions as it decomposes within lake sediments.
With support from GEVALOR, ACED proposes a project aimed at reducing the spread of this species and thereby limiting GHG emissions through its economic valorisation. Specifically, the project plans to valorise water hyacinth through compost and craft production, activities with higher added value than fishing, which should more broadly encourage local residents to harvest it. It should also enable the valorisation, on the carbon market, of avoided methane emissions linked to aerobic composting of the hyacinth, making it an innovative project and, if successful, a precursor model that could be replicated, provided the project’s expected GHG emission reductions are validated by Gold Standard.
Around 200 people will directly benefit from the project (144 farmers and 50 women), with 100,000 people benefiting indirectly (fishers and users of the water body).
