Project in Uganda

| Subject: International Cooperation

Mapping to reduce odour pollution in Kampala

Mapping for Communities, an NGO based in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala, together with the Kampala City Council and the AMB, which will pledge technical support and resources, recently began implementing the cooperation project "Odour pollution in Kampala, Uganda: Identification of a participatory methodology and development of a market strategy for its eradication".

Odour pollution: a new way of looking at cities

Despite being relatively unknown, odour pollution is one of the leading causes of malaise, anxiety and other mental conditions, particularly among residents living near emission points. In countries with a lack of waste treatment infrastructure, this problem may be exacerbated due to the proximity of numerous landfills (which usually affect low-income communities) and other facilities used on a more daily basis. An example of the latter are municipal food markets, one of the main sources of organic waste, which, due to the absence of adequate treatment facilities, release unpleasant odours that undermine the quality of life and the right to a healthy environment of both workers and consumers. 

With a view to developing a proposal for action that provides an odour control management system at municipal markets, the AMB has teamed up with Mapping for Communities. This agency is part of the action network currently implementing the research project "Distributed Network for Odour Sensing, Empowerment and Sustainability" (D-NOSES) funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme and in which AMB's Ecology Department also takes part.

This European project implements a strategy for tackling odour nuisance through a participatory method based on community-based citizen science and participatory geographic information systems (GIS). These tools enable different segments of the population to voluntarily provide data that facilitate environmental justice actions.

Project focused on Kampala's markets

In the project undertaken by Mapping for Communities and the AMB, Kampala's population –more specifically, women and children– will be trained and engaged to collect data that make it possible to map odour pollution in cities, specifically in and around food markets. Based on the information compiled, the project is expected to help devise an action plan that, towards the end of the process, will lay the groundwork for a pilot project aimed at reducing odour nuisance in one or several of Kampala's markets. The project also aims to increase awareness and develop skills among Kampala City Council representatives in positions of responsibility, in efforts to have an impact on public policies related to odour pollution.

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Kampala (Uganda)