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Students turning waste into food and fuel, growing vegetables in harsh conditions and learning climate warnings in sign language. Plus: we meet the architect rethinking African building design.
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00:12Here's the wood, here are the tools, but I still don't know what I need to do to make a
00:18table.
00:19I'll be honest, I have no idea where to start. For some people, this is second nature. They
00:26can build something useful from a few simple materials. Knowing what to do when faced with
00:33a practical challenge, that's a skill. It raises an interesting question. Are schools
00:39just teaching young people to pass tests or to get things done?
00:47At this school, yesterday's leftovers feed tomorrow's meal. In Kampala, Uganda, students
00:54at St. Chisito High School are turning food waste into animal feed and using it to raise animals
01:00that eventually become part of their meals. With more than a thousand students eating here,
01:07there is a lot of leftover food to deal with every day. But here, they end up in a recycle
01:13bin.
01:14Barbara Antude is one of the students helping turn that leftover food into something useful.
01:20It was just not thrown away, but rather used to come up with animal feeds. These animal feeds are to
01:26be fed to the different animals. And at the end of the day, these animals are food to us all,
01:31which makes
01:31it a cycle that is not only important to our environment, but also to us as the people living
01:37within the very environment. The food is collected, then crushed into tiny pieces and dried. It is then
01:45processed into small pellets, which are used to feed the school's chickens.
01:53The students also rare black soldier fly lava. The insects provide protein that can be added to the
02:01animal feed. We make these feeds ourselves from our very own food waste, which makes it very cost
02:07effective because we don't have to incur that cost. And at the end of the day, we are making a
02:11much better
02:11profit. This food cycle is just one example of how Sanchezito is putting environmental education into
02:18practice. For more than a decade, the school has encouraged students to find solutions to the
02:25environmental challenges around them, like growing vegetables in limited spaces. We are trying to
02:32beat that problem of space because all you have to do is you just get like a wall on the
02:37side of your
02:38terrace or even the wall of your house. Just put it there, connect water and the whole system runs,
02:42and you have your vegetables grown. Ten vegetables from just a single raised tower.
02:49And there are plenty of other ideas around the school, from recycling plastic to turning waste into
02:56useful products and drying fresh produce to make it last longer. The projects are different, but the idea
03:03is pretty simple. Use what you have and try to waste less. That approach has now put the school on
03:11the
03:11global stage. St. Chisito High School is among the top 10 schools shortlisted for the 2026 World's Best
03:20School Prize for Environmental Action. The school was selected from a global field of nearly 3,000 nominations
03:27and applications from 113 countries. Sol Kaiser has seen that approach from both sides. He graduated from St. Chisito in
03:362016.
03:37After university, he returned to the school as an instructor, helping a new generation of students develop their own ideas.
03:44These environmental-based projects are entitled to keep these students with the skill of how they can
03:53set up a side hustle in their lives, as well as protecting our environment. And the school's environmental
04:01work doesn't stop with food and farming. For years, cooking for more than a thousand students meant
04:07burning a lot of firewood. That meant more trees being cut down and a kitchen filled with smoke.
04:17Currently, where I'm standing used to be a yard where we put, we used to put our firewood
04:22for the cooks to use as they prepare our different meals. But currently, it's an area where we drive from
04:29the different food waste that is collected and is to be used in the animal feeds making process.
04:35Now, the school is making its own cooking briquettes from biodegradable waste collected at the school
04:40and in nearby communities. Currently, we are cooking the sauce, food for the students, but you don't see
04:47anything like smoke. All you can feel is the heat coming out of the briquettes that we are using. And
04:53that
04:53makes me say that our energy is very clean. According to St. Chisito, a school with a thousand students
05:01can use around 30 track loads of firewood a year. Each track carries about seven tons.
05:07With more than 17,500 schools across Uganda, that adds up to a huge amount of firewood.
05:14For the school leadership, the goal is not only to produce good academic results,
05:19but also to prepare young people to identify environmental problems and create solutions.
05:25We have empowered you with those skills. We have empowered you as our environmental ambassadors.
05:32Wherever you will be, there should not be any cutting of trees. You should open up enterprises,
05:40which enterprises will teach those communities that cutting down trees is evil. We can have an
05:47alternative, the use of briquettes that we get from the West.
05:51One of the school's success stories is Ronald Motevi, a 2013 graduate. Today, he runs a business
05:59making clean cooking briquettes from biodegradable waste. He produces about 30 tons every month.
06:06His products are used by homes, schools and industries as an alternative to charcoal and firewood.
06:14Do I have to necessarily have everything, every single material? Or are there other alternatives that
06:21I could resort to making it a bit easier or even cheaper? You don't need to be worried about the
06:27big
06:27scaling that we have. You can start small. You can start with manual machines. Manual machines are quite
06:32simple and cheaper compared to electric machines. We started with manual machines. We upgraded slowly,
06:38slowly, slowly until where we are. And for Ronald, the impact goes beyond the business itself.
06:48I'm proud of the trees I have saved so far, ever since I started this project.
06:52Over one million trees have been saved since this project started and we are still saving more.
06:59For Barbara and other students, the lesson is bigger than any one project. If they learn to see West
07:06differently, they learn to see solutions where others see problems. And at St. Chisito,
07:12the lesson is meant to leave the classrooms and travel with them into their communities.
07:25What struck me most in reporting this story wasn't necessarily the technology, the skills,
07:32or the amazing projects I saw. It was the mindset. Learners being encouraged not necessarily
07:40to remember what to write or say in an exam, but to look around them, identify problems,
07:48and find solutions to them. It reminded me that learning shouldn't be all about the grades that are
07:58demanded in classrooms, but about solving real problems and finding real solutions in our communities.
08:07Temperatures are rising. Our rainfall is getting less predictable all over the world. In some places,
08:14the changes are more extreme than others. We now go to Mauritania's capital, Noakut, to meet a group of
08:22students who are proving that, with enough determination, even the most unforgiving land can come back to life.
08:31The first harvest. A small miracle. Eggplants grown in the new garden at the Sepka II
08:37secondary school in the Mauritania capital, Noakut. A few okra pots and even a single tomato.
08:45The students proudly post a video on TikTok.
08:47We are in a zone where there is the soil, because we are near the beach. The soil is not
08:55cultivable.
08:57So we have decided to work again so that it is a bit cultivable. We have tried to put
09:05the soil and the herbs in there so that we can get the soil minerals so that the plants can
09:14nourish.
09:15Sandy, saline soil is not the only problem. It hardly ever rains here, and temperatures often exceed 40 degrees.
09:25Three years ago, the NGO Biodiversité founded a green club at a school. Now, it has its own groundwater pump
09:33and hose.
09:36Otherwise, grass and vegetables wouldn't grow here.
09:40The green club members water twice a day according to a strict schedule. Every evening,
09:46the students return to the school just before sunset to water the plants.
10:01The school is the only green oasis in the area. It's noticeably cool for the plants,
10:10and when it happens to take 30 years, it takes longer than just 30 years and 100 years.
10:16The school is the only green oasis in the area. It's noticeably cool and
10:21in the school yard than in the neighbouring streets.
10:24The students enjoy the fresh, pleasant air.
10:27And that's not the only perk of the garden.
10:30Awa, in Bayegai, picks leaves from the moringa tree.
10:33And back at home, she and her mother turn them
10:36into a delicious, healthy juice.
10:40An additional source of income for the family.
10:51At school, I told her to bring me a little.
10:54I want to live.
10:55I do it.
10:57People love it.
10:59It's very good.
11:02Today, she's not off to sell the moringa juice,
11:05but to take it to school.
11:06The Green Club has been awarded a climate scholarship from the city,
11:10and there is a party taking place to celebrate.
11:13Even state television is here.
11:15Now, the school can grow more vegetables.
11:18The students who work in the garden, like Safiya Sou,
11:22are given a certificate.
11:43In order to get ideas for the next phase of the project,
11:47Maimina Salek, the president of the NGO Biodiversity, has invited a few members of the Green Club
11:54to a bird sanctuary and park on the outskirts of the capital.
12:01They get to explore nature and pick up some tips from gardener Musa Barry.
12:24It's down to method, and above all, mentality.
12:28Maimina Salek says there are no excuses.
12:45That expertise is fostered at the Agricultural Faculty of Rosos Technical University in the south of the country.
12:52There is also an active Green Club here. Safiya So from Noakshot has been invited by the Institute to its
12:59open day.
13:00The students proudly show off their environmentally friendly solar heating system.
13:06A mirror furnace.
13:13A mini biogas plant fed with waste supplied by the Department of Animal Production.
13:21And, their pride and joy, a compost plant. Everything is explained to Safiya So in detail.
13:28This sort of compost would help the tomato plants in the school garden flourish.
13:34But she's not crazy about the earthworms.
13:41In the afternoon, it's time for hands-on learning.
13:44The students are visiting the fields of one of the Institute's graduates.
13:47They ask onion farmer Ahmed Khairat in Dao all sorts of questions, eager to learn as much as possible, so
13:55they can develop new ideas.
14:00They already have a suggestion for the farmer's irrigation system.
14:23Safiya So gets the farmers' and students' phone numbers. She would like to study at the faculty after graduating from
14:30high school and would like to stay in touch.
14:33Safiya So gets the
14:35touch.
14:44In the evening, the report on the school in Nwakshott is broadcast on state television.
15:06At last, recognition of the project. A few days later, Maimouna Salek receives inquiries
15:13from various ministries asking whether her NGO could launch green clubs in other schools.
15:20This project of the university, that it is really a model for others, and that others
15:24want to do the same thing and become inspiring, it's going to be a revolution.
15:30One school club alone isn't a revolution, but it's sowing the seeds for one.
15:40That means inclusion in international sign language.
15:44When it comes to the world we live in, there are many ways to include everyone in society.
15:50For the millions of people in Africa with hearing loss, it's often a question of communicating
15:57vital information. We met a man in Zimbabwe who's doing this bit to make sure that when environmental
16:04problems arise, nobody is left alone.
16:14Douglas Mapeta demonstrates the word weather in sign language.
16:25Today, the class is focusing on words related to weather phenomena and climate change.
16:32Extreme weather events like floods and droughts are becoming more common in Zimbabwe.
16:37They can be even more devastating for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
16:42Once communication has not been relayed properly in terms of planning to those people who are
16:50deaf, it will be very difficult for them to know even the evacuation centers, even in terms
16:56of awareness that there is a disaster looming, it will be difficult for them to understand.
17:01According to the World Health Organization, around 4% of people in Africa live with disabling
17:08hearing loss. In Zimbabwe, sign language is one of the 16 official languages, but few have
17:14really mastered it. And Douglas Mapeta is one of the very few teachers.
17:43He also believes in changing his lifestyle to be more sustainable. Today, he is a
17:48colleague John Vudzi and his colleague John Vudzi are visiting an urban farm. Vudzi lost his
17:53hearing as a child after contracting meningitis. He has been working at Douglas Mapeta's
17:58Language School since 2018. Both are interested in renewable energies and smart agriculture.
18:05Here, they are learning how to grow lettuce and vegetables while serving water.
18:31Another important factor for communication is electricity. In Zimbabwe, power outages are frequent. That's
18:39Another important factor for communication is electricity. In Zimbabwe, power outages are frequent. That's
18:39What makes life especially difficult for deaf people as they need light to communicate. Solar lamps can be helpful here.
18:47Douglas Mapeta has taught sign language for more than a decade in the capital Harare and in rural areas. He
18:54offers free courses like here in the community of Nyanga. He tells them about low-cost solar panels, not to
19:04sell them, but as a helpful tip for deaf residents so they are free to
19:09communicate at all times.
19:11Thank you very much. I love you.
19:21Look, if you are in Lagos, you don't have to accept that as normal anymore. Back in 2024, the state
19:26passed a law that basically says if the national grid won't give you light, you can make it yourselves. The
19:31truth is, Lagos only gets about 1,000 megawatts from the grid and we need 15 times of that. As
19:35a result, we burn more petrol and diesel. This law is about stopping that pollution.
19:39You can now build mini-grids right in your neighborhood. If your street or estate decides to set up a
19:44solar plant under 1 megawatt, you don't even need to wait for license. You just build and enjoy 247 light.
19:50You have to have an accredited installer, of course. Now, to be honest here, private installers are not going to
19:55do this for charity. They're going to spend a lot more upfront, but it pays off down the line with
19:59lower bills and less while allowed with Nepal. Now, do you think this new law will make Lagos a 24
20:04-hour light city?
20:06Just look at the construction going on behind me. Lagos is a city where new buildings are going up at
20:13breathtaking speed. And that's happening across the continent. But as Africa's cities grow, so does the pressure on energy, resources
20:24and the climate. So can the way we build change too?
20:28Our next report takes us to Dakar in Senegal, which is fast becoming a hub for a new sustainable African
20:37architecture.
20:40Dakar Senegal, in the historic neighborhood of Vanhoek, the architectural firm Murofela has its headquarters. Co-founder Nzinga Mbub was
20:49born in Mozambique to a Cameroonian mother and a Senegalese father. After studying in London, she returned to West Africa
20:56to realize her vision of sustainable architecture.
20:59I feel very blessed and very lucky. Here, I feel total freedom to be able to invest myself in the
21:05conversations of architecture, but then use that in order to inform the practice and build it.
21:11Together with co-founder Nicola Rondé, she's working on Murofela's current project, the Rainforest Gallery for the Museum of West
21:20African Art, MOA. This prestigious project blends functional design with traditional building materials.
21:27The Rainforest Gallery sits within the Moa campus in Benin City. We use natural materials such as timber, which is
21:34going to be used for the roof or raw earth, which is used in the walls.
21:37It has a great capacity to absorb humidity in the air. So that's a great way to also, you know,
21:42reduce the humidity level, which is important for the artwork that is going to be there.
21:47In 2019, age 30, she founded her architecture firm. Two years later, her team was already tackling one of its
21:54first major projects, a residential building in Dakar's Ngor district.
21:59The concept, climate conscious design, a shaded facade of cooling clay bricks and natural ventilation, smart design with attitude.
22:08I do feel that as an African, we need a bit more of a radical approach, a radical approach that
22:13is sort of anchored in our traditional knowledges to really make buildings and cities that sort of work better for
22:22us from a climatic point of view, from a cultural point of view, from an economical point of view.
22:29Her favorite building material is raw red earth, abundant across Africa, mixed with about 7% cement and a touch
22:37of lime.
22:38It's pressed into shape and sun dried, a climate friendly method that doesn't require firing.
22:44This is how buildings were traditionally made and what the future could look like entirely without concrete.
22:52There's sometimes a lot of skepticism when it comes to what can be done. So it helps that we have
22:57clients that are willing to go for it, that we have architects, engineers, contractors that are all participants in this
23:05revolution.
23:06And one building at a time, we're showing that it's possible and more people are adhering to it.
23:12Now a change of scene to Berlin, Germany, we are at Francis Carré's studio.
23:17The architecture born in Burkina Faso has previously won the prestigious Pritzker Prize for his pioneering work in sustainable earth
23:24-based construction.
23:31One of his most renowned projects is the new Goethe Institute in Dakar, Senegal.
23:36He trusted Nzinga and Bob's world filler to manage on-site construction with a German engineering company.
23:46For Nzinga, the project is more than just work. It's a statement.
23:52We knew that this project has the capacity to really shift the perspective on earth and architecture because it's a
24:00cultural institution, because it's going to be a public building.
24:04Nzinga's next opportunity arose in Venice in 2023 when Leslie Loco, curator of the architecture Biennale, invited the most exciting
24:13African architects, including Nzinga and Bob, to showcase their work.
24:18I realize that I'm even less alone than I thought we were.
24:21And it's quite heartwarming to be able to also have those conversations and see that we're not the only ones
24:26asking ourselves those questions and that we're thinking collectively about how to redefine the role of architecture.
24:31So I'm a lot more involved in to be able to go back and kind of continue in the multidisciplinary
24:37approach that I have to my practice and connect more as well with the others because there's been a lot
24:42of exchanges of contacts of emails and with the true will to collaborate.
24:49Back in Dakar, the newly appointed CCA curator immediately set her mandate in motion.
24:54She organizes panels, researches Senegal's modern architectural history and gives a stage to other architects.
25:03And now she's building a network for black women architects, a space to exchange experiences, ideas and support.
25:10Her ambition goes beyond designing individual buildings.
25:14She wants to strengthen a movement that is rethinking who shapes Africa's cities and how those cities can better reflect
25:22the continent's climate, cultures and knowledge.
25:28You can find more reports about sustainable building and design in our EcoDrop newsletter.
25:35And if you've got a story you want to tell us about, write to us at eco at dw.com.
25:42Bye for now.
26:07Bye for now.
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