By Nicholas Waitathu
The Danish government has granted three city county governments in Kenya 10 million Danish kroner (Ksh 200 million) to finance a five-year study on the exposure to heavy metals and antimicrobial resistance in people who consume livestock products from animals reared in and around Kenyan dumpsites.
The project, Heavy Metal and Antimicrobial Resistance Exposure through Waste in Kenya (AMELIORATE) funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) will be conducted in the the counties of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
The project will focus on risks to human health, animal health, and the environment arising from rapid urbanisation and unmanaged waste.
Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), Veterinary Science Research Institute, Deputy Institute Director, Dr. Moses Olum says animals accumulate heavy metals and antibiotic resistant zoonotic bacteria without detection and they carry them across different environments, other animals and to humans.
“People living near Dandora dumpsite are likely to struggle with antimicrobial resistance as food crops they feed on are infected by chemicals washed onto their farms. Livestock that feed at dumpsites also end up slaughtered and consumed by humans,” Dr. Olum warns.
The study will inform national policy, support Antimicrobial Resistance and waste management regulations as well as inform action by state agencies overseeing public health and environmental protection.
“Key deliverables of the project include assessing health and transmission risks for the animals, investigating the prevalence of diseases caused by heavy metals and zoonotic bacteria in humans and analyzing and heavy metal toxicity in human samples,” said Erick Ogallo, a programme officer for Circular Economy and Water at the Danish Embassy in Nairobi.
The project is implemented by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), KALRO, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), and University of Nairobi (UoN).