Soil degradation is a common problem that farmers experience after years of farming their land. Most farmers in Ghana depend on costly chemical fertilisers to artificially boost nutrients and enhance their yields. The use of chemicals can cause further soil degradation, which in turn affects the nutritional value of the food that is grown. Meanwhile, farmers either burn or openly dump agricultural waste, which could otherwise be used to rejuvenate degraded soil with nutrients and organic matter.

Sabon Sake produces regenerative soil solutions to help reverse infertile and degraded farm soils. The amendment is produced with agricultural waste from sugarcane. Sabon Sake uses thermochemical conversion technology to produce biochar, which is inoculated with microorganisms and used as a customised soil blend. This sequesters carbon released into the atmosphere. Sabon Sake has partnered with agrowaste producing districts in the South Volta region, where they have easy access to waste produced as an agricultural by-product. Their location enables easy distribution of products to farms in other communities. They organise knowledge sharing workshops with farmers where they raise awareness of their soil blend and provide training on climate-resilient agricultural practices. Sabon Sake was the winner of the 2019 Climate Launchpad competition in Ghana.

This case study has been created as part of Footprints Africa's work to build the first ever comprehensive mapping of circular economy initiatives in Africa. This will lay the foundation open-source database that can inspire local initiatives, as well as inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American contexts. We are doing this in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN). ACEN's vision is to build a restorative African economy that generates well-being and prosperity inclusive of all its people through new forms of economic production and consumption which maintain and regenerate its environmental resources.

The objective is to build an open-source database featuring 500 cases by the end of 2021, with strong regional representation. These will feature in the Knowledge Hub and are also being mapped by GRID-Arendal.