Biogas in Kenya

Biogas is produced from a breakdown of animal waste in airtight containers and its main use is for cooking. It can replace wood, gas, or kerosene and reduces deforestation, which has been a huge problem in Kenya.

The Africa Biogas Partnership Programme (ABPP) has installed over 25,000 biogas digesters since 2008 in five countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burkina Faso) and has a goal of reaching 70,000 digesters by the end of 2014; rural farmers are a main target community. The Kenya National Federation of Agriculture Producers (KENFAP) has set up the Kenya National Domestic Biogas Programme (KENDBIP), with a goal of developing the biogas sector.
So far, under KENDBIP, almost 7,000 biogas digesters have been built with a target goal of 11,000. This will avoid roughly 94,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is not a large amount for Kenya considering the amount of deforestation that has occurred for years; however, this will pave the way for further change in the years to come.

The biogas implementation has not only been good for the environment and do not only economically benefit rural farmers. Biogas plants have allowed for women to play a role in the economy. One woman from Nairobi, Lydia Owenga is a trained installer of biogas systems who owns her own business, which has now built 15 biogas systems. The ABPP conducted a study last year which showed results that out of the five countries where the ABPP is active, Kenya has shown the highest proportion of trained women masons, which is a great social change in a society that often does not take women seriously in business.

So what is the fuss over biogas?

Not only is it environmentally friendly, especially to a country like Kenya where deforestation has been a growing issue; it is also economically friendly to rural farmers, who no longer have to worry about spending so much on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), and it has also made a social impact on women in business.

Comments

[joseph oroni]

can i try bio gas if i only have 2 traditional cows. is the dung enough to produce bio gas for family of 3