Location - Lagos, Nigeria

Groups Involved - 20 communities have been trained by Miti Meth; this is so they know how to effectively harvest water hyacinth. Funded by organisations such as LASWA (Lagos State Waterways Authority), to help achieve sustainable development.

Background - Aquatic weeds such as the water hyacinth produce major challenges to local communities. Water hyacinth have been targeted by government initiatives to reduce the damage they caused. Water hyacinths have extensive and knotted root systems which clog waterways which are a key transportation network to inland populations. Water hyacinths are reducing water flow to inland Nigeria, thus causing water deprivation. This is also causing nutritional resources in their surrounding areas being depleted, which leads to a drop in fish population which affects food supplies and local businesses.

Aims - Miti Meth is aiming to encourage sustainability by transforming nuisance plantation into something useful. This is going to inject more money into the economy as more jobs are being produced for the extraction of water hyacinth and the conversion of this into their products. In addition, Miti Meth is attempting to tackle the infestation crisis that these plants are having on Nigeria. Miti Meth is aiming to increase water flow inland and to keep fish population high.

Resources Recycled - Miti Meth recycle water hyacinths which are an invasion species of plant which is causing environmental and economical problems. These plants are recycled into a variety of products such as furniture, home accents, lamps, kitchen, and dining ware etc. The products that are created from the water hyacinth has a rattan look to it, the products appear to be woven. The products are reasonably priced, a pack of coasters costs around £10.

Social Impacts - By reducing the amount of water hyacinth in Nigeria, it is going to reduce dehydration related incidents as more water will be available within inland areas. This can help prevent deaths from dehydration. This can potentially save lives. Fish businesses will also have more products to sell as fish populations will increase thus reducing potential starvation rates.

Economic Impacts - Firstly, Miti Meth is creating jobs through the extraction of water hyacinths and by harvesting it to transform it into their furniture. This is going to help tackle poverty in Nigeria as well as inject money into the economy. Secondly, since water hyacinths are reducing fish population, by extracting water hyacinths it is going to increase fish population which will assist local businesses and help prevent starvation. This is going to assist businesses with injecting money into the economy.

Environmental Impacts - Water Hyacinth decreases phytoplankton production. Phytoplankton absorb c02 out of water through biological carbon sequestration. If water hyacinth is decreasing the rate of biological sequestration this will result in more carbon existing in the water in Nigeria which can increase its acidity thus affecting fish populations and contribute to climate change. By harvesting water hyacinth, it will increase phytoplankton production thus increase biological carbon sequestration. This overall will reduce water acidity which will protect marine ecosystems as well as mitigating climate change.

References - https://www.mitimeth.com/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02294.x