Abstract

India’s cities and towns are struggling with growing volumes of waste, even as farmers pay heavily for chemical fertilisers that could in part be replaced with greener nutrients recovered from that same urban waste. This brief sets out a practical, low-cost model: city-farmer partnerships for wet waste compostingdesigned to help urban local bodies (ULBs) reduce landfill pressure and secure affordable, locally produced compost for farmers. Under the model, ULBs deliver segregated wet waste directly to farmlands instead of sending it to landfills, and farmers compost the wet waste they receive for use in their own fields. Building on IIHS’ pioneering experience of designing and implementing these city-farmer partnerships in Karnataka, this brief explains why the approach is needed, presents field evidence demonstrating its effectiveness, outlines its key policy design and operational requirements, and proposes pathways for scaling it up.