Electronics Consumption, Waste and the Informal Trade Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bodies of Planned Obsolescence: digital performance and the global politics of electronic waste (BoPO) is an art-science research network that engages with the global economy of electronic waste (e-waste). The project has established a network between artists, scientists and cultural studies scholars in Africa, China and Europe through workshops in Lagos (Nigeria), Hong Kong and London. It was funded by an AHRC Research Networking grant during 2014-15 (AH/L01582X/1) and has been awarded two smaller grants for contributions to the AHRC Connected Communities Festival and the Somerset House Utopia Fair in 2016.
The present application for Follow-on Funding for Impact and Engagement under the highlight notice for International Development is concerned with the dissemination and development of new applications of the network's research outcomes through a series of activities in Nairobi, Kenya, as well as a presentation and networking event in London. The proposed Follow-on activities are aimed at exploring the transferability of research findings and the practice-based methodology of BoPO in the context of international development initiatives in informal trade and street vending in Sub-Saharan Africa.

During the lifetime of the original research networking project, three new avenues of inquiry were identified, which are highly relevant to the planned Follow-on activities:
1. Although e-waste processing in Europe is often seen as a more or less independent industry, in Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries, e-waste management cannot be considered in isolation from repair and trade in both old and new devices and parts.
2. While most literature on e-waste recycling focuses on core devices (desktop units, laptops, monitors), peripherals (chargers, mice, keyboards, cables) tend to be largely overlooked. Practical engagement with e-waste processing in Nigeria made us aware that these devices make up a substantial part of the waste stream. More attention should be paid to their trade and disposal in research and policy making initiatives.
3. Especially with regards to peripherals, used devices imported from Europe are not the only relevant source of e-waste in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Street hawkers and market traders sell large quantities of new, cheaply made phones, cables, chargers, and other small electronic items, which break easily and quickly.
The Follow-on activities in Nairobi in October and November 2016 will draw from these three newly identified avenues in various ways:
-A presentation by network researchers at the 'Street Vending and Urban Development' conference in Nairobi in November 2016 will address the prominence of peripherals among street vending articles and take this as a starting point for an exchange on sustainability and informal trade with street vending representatives, policy makers and NGO civics. Another element of this conference contribution will be an exchange with policy makers and NGO civics on possibilities to apply BoPO's practice-based art-science methodology in the broader context of International Development activities in informal trade.
-Two artworks created as part of the research network around theme of peripherals will be centre pieces in a two-week exhibition which is planned at a community library in the Kibera slum settlement in Nairobi, alongside artwork by local Kenyan artists and other BoPO outputs. The exhibition will stimulate reflection on the implications of informal trade strategies on waste production and ecology.
-The three new pathways of inquiry outlined above will form the core concepts for a one-day workshop that will be organized for high school students at the French School in Nairobi.

The planned events will deliver pathways to impact in various ways:
1. The panel session at the conference will allow BoPO researchers to present the network outcomes to relevant policy makers and NGO civics, including the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat), The Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders (KENSAVIT). Following the presentations, networking meetings are foreseen to discuss further practical applications of research findings, as well as possible future collaborations after the funding period.
2. Media partner Africa Uncensored will disseminate reports on the funded activities through their online platform. Africa Uncensored has a broad reach in the field of critical media scholars, policy makers and international development workers worldwide. Coverage on this platform is envisaged to stimulate further reflection on the transferability of research outcomes.
3. The high school workshop will stimulate students to engage in creative activity based on critical reflection on the core issues of the BoPO project. This embedded pedagogical model is envisaged to impact the way students approach art and creative processes in relation to cultural criticism and ecology in their future work. Depending on the outcomes of this workshop, a model for an e-waste workshop for under-18 students that can be run independently by schools may be developed in collaboration with school tutors. This would create further pathways to impact.
4. Following the activities in Nairobi, the presentation and networking event in London will disseminate a reflection on the activities to relevant UK-based stakeholders in the field of art and international development.

The activities will also reach out to new audiences:
1. The location of the exhibition in an accessible venue in the Kibera settlement means that the event will be attended by members of local communities who would be unlikely to engage with the research project otherwise.
2. The high school workshop presents the research project and its outcomes to an audience of young people who would also be unlikely to visit the project's events if they took place elsewhere.
3. The UK-based presentation and networking event will reach policy makers and artists who have not previously engaged with the project.