The Benefits of Water Hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes ) for Southern Africa: A Review

Obianuju P. Ilo, Mulala D. Simatele, S’phumelele L. Nkomo, Ntandoyenkosi M. Mkhize and Nagendra G. Prabhu
Additional contact information
Obianuju P. Ilo: Discipline of Geography, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Mulala D. Simatele: Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
S’phumelele L. Nkomo: Discipline of Geography, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Ntandoyenkosi M. Mkhize: Discipline of Chemical Engineering, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Nagendra G. Prabhu: Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: Globally, water hyacinth is a known invasive species that predominantly threatens the pillars of sustainability. The cost of controlling these invasive plants is high and many Southern African countries are barely equipped for this liability as the process has to be performed over time. Despite this challenge, there is valuable resource recovery from water hyacinth which can be used to make financial and environmental returns. The visible differences between the control and utilisation methods lie in the definition, recognition, and matching of costs and benefits. Using a rapid appraisal of existing literature, which was analysed using meta-analysis, the current paper is an attempt to discuss the beneficial use of water hyacinth. It is argued in the paper that the economic feasibility of control methods which, on one hand, are used to calculate the economic value of water hyacinth, mainly relies on assumptions whose reliability and sustainability are questionable, thus implying limitations on using this kind of control methods. On the other hand, the costs and benefits of utilising water hyacinth can be quantifiable, making them susceptible to changes associated with time value and sensitivity analysis of possible fluctuations in cashflows. In the context of these annotations, other scholars have argued for the consideration of other utilisation alternatives, among which is included biogas which has been identified as the most viable option because of its potential in diversifying the energy mix, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and contributing to improved water quality. Given these observations, this paper aims to contribute to policy and research discussions on the fiscal understandings of the material recovery from water hyacinth to promote the adoption of biogas technology. These views are discussed within the broader discourse of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Keywords: water hyacinth; biomass; control; utilisation; bioenergy; cost-benefit; Southern Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9222/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9222/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9222-:d:440731

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().