Institute of Development Policy

VLIRUOS TEAM project - GreenLake

Actionable Knowledge Co-Creation for Sustainable Development in Waterfront Communities in Benin

VLIRUOS TEAM project - GreenLake

Actionable Knowledge Co-Creation for Sustainable Development in Waterfront Communities in Benin

GreenLake co-creates a research-practice platform (RPP) and innovative actionable research to enhance the sustainable development of Floating and Flood-Prone (FFP) villages in Benin, with lessons for West-Africa and beyond.

This video presents the project in a nutshell

The RPP ‘OVILAC’, short for 'Observatoire des villages lacustres’, is embedded in the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) and seeks to stimulate collaboration between researchers and practitioners.

Within the time frame of the GreenLake TEAM project (Sept 2024 – Sept 2029), OVILAC co-creates research on the design, adoption, and impact of Toilet Linked Biogas Plants (TLBPs).

The TLBP will reduce open defecation and wood fuel use, thereby leading to knock-on effects on water quality, waterborne and respiratory diseases, the fishery stock, food security and deforestation.

The multi-stakeholder exchange cultivated by OVILAC will ensure the active engagement of stakeholders in shaping and informing the TLBP research, so that its findings are directly applicable to the real-world setting.

GREENLAKE is funded by VLIRUOS, the leading funding body for partnerships between academics from Flanders and partner institutions in the Global South.

VLIRUOS TEAM projects focus on addressing sustainable development challenges while enhancing the research and educational capacities of higher education and science institutions in partner countries.

Sustainable Development Outcomes

People & Partnerships

  • Marijke Verpoorten is GreenLake’s Flemish promoter. Associated with the IOB - Institute of Development Policy, at the University of Antwerp, she is responsible for the project’s socioeconomic dimension, together with team member Romain Houssa, from CRED - Centre de recherche en économie du développement, at the University of Namur.
  • Gabin Koto N'Gobi is the UAC Partner promoter. Working at UAC’s Laboratoire de Sciences des Matériaux et Modélisations (LaSMMo), part of the Faculté des Sciences et Techniques (FAST), he is responsible for the TLBP design and construction, supported by Flemish co-promoter Jo De Vrieze, from CMET - Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology at Ghent University.
  • UAC Partner co-promoters Delphine Adandedjan (Ecole d’Aménagement et de Gestion de l’Environnement) and Daouda Mama (Centre d’Excellence d’Afrique pour l’Eau et l’Assainissement C2EA-INE) evaluate the TLBP’s impact on water quality and sustainable aquatic environments.
  • Team member Enoch Achigan-Dako, head of UAC’s Département de Production Végétale, Laboratoire de Génétique, Biotechnologie et Science des Semences (GBioS) looks into the fertilizer potential of TLBP output.
  • Team member Colette Azandjeme of UAC’s Institute of Public Health, evaluates the TLBP’s health impact, in terms of waterborne and respiratory diseases, as well as nutrition.
  • Team member, Basile Kounouhewa, head of the               PNUD business incubator at UAC oversees the development of a viable TLBP design and business model for TLBP scale-up.
  • PhD student Baudoin Koussognon, recruited at UA’s IOB supports the socioeconomic research, working towards a joint UAntwerp/UNamur PhD in Development Studies/Economics  .
  • PhD student Josias Dossa, recruited at UAC’s LaSMMo/FAST supports the TLBP design, working towards a joint UAC/UGhent PhD in Renewable energy.

Stakeholders

GreenLake signed a Memorandum of Understanding with « Biogaz Bénin», represented by its director  Henock Gnanga. In the MoU, The academic team and the private sector partner agree to embark on a mutual learning journey with the objective of promoting the design and adoption of a suitable TLBP for waterfront communities in West Africa.

GreenLake’s key societal stakeholders include the NGO Join for Water, as well as the inhabitants of the demonstration village Ahomey-Gblon (part of So-Ava commune), represented by village chief Mathieu Zingbe and collectivity chief Léon Hounkponou.

The project will be informative for Benin’s Ministries of Health, Energy and Tourism, aligning with their respective focus on promoting sanitation, renewable energy, and the lake’s touristic potential. To promote exchange on the various government initiatives, as well as any synergies in the systematic collection and dissemination of data, we forged an alliance with Benin’s Directorate of Statistics, headed by Alexandre Biaou.