Towards agro-industrial sustainability in Kenya through energy conservation and other technologies

Abstract

Meeting the nutritional needs of people in a .world where the 'population is increasing, the natural resource base is limited and fragile, and unsustainable production and consumption patterns are proliferating presents a major challenge for engineers as we enter the 21st century. Sustainability issues concern the entire food and fibre production and supply chain, from agricultural production and processing to packaging, distribution and final consumption. To make agricultural food production sustainable, urgent measures are needed to address concerns about land and water use, productivity, consumption patterns,energy and waste management. Resource. efficiency means using less to produce more and is a, concept that aptly captures the sustainability issue. This, paper: therefore, attempts to explore some of the ways in which this can be achieved through greater resource efficiency and the application of conservation tcchnologies This takes the form of a 'review of literature focused on studies that have been undertaken on the subject. There is a lot of room for improvement in the efficiency with which the agro-industrial sub-sector is managed, even if only currently available technologies arc considered. Increased use of approaches such as cleaner production techniques all along the production and consumption chain, energy saving measures. packaging reduction and more efficient distribution can eliminate environmental impacts and lower production costs.