Evaluation of Environmental Management Practices in Abattoirs in Kano State

This study evaluates environmental management practices at five registered abattoirs in Kano State, North West Nigeria. Abattoirs generate large volumes of blood, rumen content, wastewater, and solid waste with high organic loads, and their management has direct implications for surface water quality, groundwater contamination, air quality through odour, and disease vector proliferation. Structured site inspections were conducted at the Kano Metropolitan Abattoir and four secondary abattoirs in Wudil, Gwarzo, Rano, and Dawakin Tofa Local Government Areas, assessing effluent treatment infrastructure, solid waste disposal systems, drainage conditions, sanitation provisions, and environmental compliance documentation. Effluent samples from five discharge points were analysed for pH, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and faecal coliform. Interviews were conducted with abattoir management and Kano State Environmental Protection Agency inspectors. Results show that the Kano Metropolitan Abattoir has the most developed treatment infrastructure but still discharges effluent with BOD values four times the NESREA permissible limit. The four secondary abattoirs lack any treatment systems, discharging raw effluent directly to adjacent channels. Solid waste including rumen content and blood is inadequately stored, creating odour, fly, and rodent management problems. KEPA inspections at secondary abattoirs occur less than twice per year. The study concludes that abattoir environmental management requires immediate intervention at regulatory and infrastructure levels. Recommendations include low-cost anaerobic lagoon systems at secondary abattoirs and monthly KEPA compliance inspections. Keywords: abattoir management, effluent, organic waste, Kano State, environmental compliance.