Every year, a cloud of black smoke casts a shadow over Egypt’s sky, signaling the beginning of the rice straw burning season, which comes with its share of allergies and lung infections. As the cloud pollutes Egypt in October and November, hospitals witness an increase in the number of patients. Parents stop sending their children to school to avoid the worst stages of the smoke cloud, which causes a sore throat.
WHO issues warning
Every year, a cloud of black smoke casts a shadow over Egypt’s sky, signaling the beginning of the rice straw burning season, which comes with its share of allergies and lung infections. As the cloud pollutes Egypt in October and November, hospitals witness an increase in the number of patients. Parents stop sending their children to school to avoid the worst stages of the smoke cloud, which causes a sore throat.
WHO issues warning
Khalid Fahmi, Minister of Environment, announced that the ministry will make vital preparations for the smoke cloud and rice burning season, but warned that the ministry cannot be expected to get rid of the black cloud entirely.
The seven rice-producing governorates: Kafr el-Sheikh, Qalyubia, Al Sharqia, Damietta, Gharbia, Beheira, Dakahlia take the brunt of the smoke cloud and the diseases it causes. Even Cairo is not spared from this cloud. However, its share is lower than the other governorates according to the data of the Ministry of Environment’s operation room published by AL Ahram newspaper.
Egyptian farmers have been burning rice straw after harvest for the last twelve years. The problem worsened after the land dedicated for growing rice expanded to 486,000 hectares and farmers took the easy option of getting rid of straw by burning it.
The Ministry of Environment declared that burning rice straw is responsible for 42% of Egypt’s pollution during October and November. A World Health Organization (WHO) report shows that breathing air in Egypt equals smoking a packet of cigarettes per day. WHO warned that air quality in Egypt must urgently improve, before it is too late to act.
From straw to paper
Amid the recurrent pollution, an Egyptian couple found a simple solution – using rice straw as a raw material to produce paper. In an alley in Old Egypt in the ancient city of Fostat, this family launched its small project.
Mohamed Abu al-Naja, an artist and a societal pioneer, worked all his life in Alexandria in producing paper manually. In 2005, he decided to establish the Window Institution for Modern Art and Development to revive the manual manufacturing of paper from agricultural waste.
Many institutions and initiatives inside and outside Egypt are already working on producing recycled paper yet the Window Institution, in addition to converting rice straw into paper, is also working on getting rid of agricultural waste, which is harmful to the environment, including the Nile’s roses.
“We thought that the idea would benefit society. On the one hand, rice straw cam be disposed of without harming the environment and on the other, job opportunities are created for the women who suffer difficult living conditions,” said Inas Khamis, an artist, about the aim behind establishing this non-profit institution with her husband.
Grassroots project
Seven women, some disabled, work in this small paper workshop. Upon entering the institution, on the left, there is a pile of rice straw which was put in water two days ago. Fatima, in her thirties, was wearing worn out clothes. She bore large piles of rice straw and put them in the fire.
“We cook rice straw for two or three hours. After that, we wash it and grind it for half an hour until it forms into a type of dough. Then we put it in a marvel basin, strain it, and fix it on the wall.”
From there they put a wet sponge in the strainer so that paper is separated from it and stuck on the wall, where it is left to dry. Then, colored shapes are printed on the paper. They also produce present boxes, gift cards, curtains and notebooks. She says that the institution buys straw from traders at L.E. 30 for each pile and sometimes higher.
Integrating disable residents
The institution started its activities by training volunteers from different civil organizations on producing paper manually through a series of workshops, especially in Cairo’s poor areas where unemployment rates are high. Abu al-Naja is keen on teaching those people especially women and the disabled and creating job opportunities and untraditional sources of income for them.
The work team includes a number of deaf and mute people. In addition, the institution mainly depends on foreign volunteers who contribute to achieving the institution’s goals. The institution’s products are promoted at Cairo’s major retailers, the local and international exhibitions and on the internet through the Madar Facebook page, which supports local initiatives aiming at preserving the environment.
The institution took part in the BBC World Challenge Competition in 2011 and among 650 institutions from around the globe, it came in 12th. Nevertheless, the institution did not receive any support from any of the consecutive Egyptian governments since it was established ten years ago. Khamis, the institution’s director, says: “I went to all the governmental institutions but to no avail. In short, it is better to be away from the government.” Her husband won an Ashoka in the Arab World fellowship in 2007 for being a social innovator. The organization helped him attract volunteers and provide media coverage to promote the institution’s concepts and products.
Next steps
The institution faces many difficulties. For one, not everyone appreciates manual paper as it is different and relatively more expensive than normal paper.
Although the institution innovated new uses for the manual paper, the local demand on its products, says Khamis, is way lower than the international one which forms the institution’s main source of income. She adds: “The poor economic situation in Egypt, especially after the revolution, negatively impacts the manual paper market. Therefore, we depend on the festive seasons and the international fairs held in Egypt to sell our products.”
While the government has not officially acknowledged the activities of the Window Institution environment minister Khalid Fahmi, announced measures that would help their efforts. “We want to create a market for selling straw and supporting the collectors and contractors of agricultural waste through buying new equipment to help them collect the largest quantity of rice straw from farmers after the harvest by giving easy loans in cooperation with the social fund.”
The minister added that the ministry would work on providing and modernizing equipment and compressors to protect the environment from the black cloud and prevent the negative impacts of burning rice straw in the rice-growing governorates, especially Al Shaqia and Dakahlia, whose contractors will be provided with their own equipment and the other governorates such as Kafr al-Sheikh will be provided with rented equipment.
