Rising input costs and persistent water insecurity remain major barriers to viability for South Africa's emerging and resource-constrained producers, and Dr Jack Bloom, deputy minister of water and sanitation for just over two months, argues the answer lies partly in municipal waste. Speaking at a Food for Mzansi session at Nampo Cape, he called for a functional sanitation economy that safely converts wastewater and faecal sludge into organic fertilisers and irrigation water, rather than treating sanitation as a municipal cost.

Pilot projects, Bloom said, already show E. coli levels in properly treated products that are undetectable and well within safe limits. 'We need to scale this approach because, quite frankly, South Africa currently imports the vast majority of its fertiliser,' he said; when global prices spike or conflicts erupt elsewhere, farmers are exposed, and 'there is real economic value locked in this waste'.

Treated wastewater offers a consistent supply near peri-urban areas and small towns, and pilot testing confirms it meets safe limits for agricultural use when processing follows strict scientific standards — addressing two constraints of emerging producers at once: nutrient costs and irrigation water where allocations are tight.

Bloom wants public–private partnerships to accelerate sludge treatment plants, noting that Kenya already runs dedicated facilities, and says the Water Partnerships Office can drive projects as willing partners are found. Decentralising treatment close to where waste is produced and inputs are needed could revive small towns losing people to the cities, with farmers and cooperatives taking part from collection and treatment to composting, biogas and distribution.

Municipal performance remains 'the weak link in the chain', he said: amendments now before parliament would hold officials personally accountable, because fines alone 'won't truly hold their feet to the fire'. He invited stakeholders to propose pilot locations.

Source: Food for Mzansi