Problems / Challenge

Sugar cane cultivation in western Kenya, which started in mid 1970’s, has accelerated the rate of destruction of trees due to high population density has further compounded the problem of destruction of forests and trees hence threatening the very source of water within the Nile Basin. Schools continue to put pressure on forest due to their high demand for firewood to use in cooking with highly inefficient open fire stoves. These project will develop biogas as an alternative source of energy, promote economical use of energy in institutions and homesteads through use of energy saving stoves create employment for people trained in production and service of the same and of the same and efficiently generate and use the highly potent methane from farmlands through biogas plants.

Improved cooking stoves

The project meets the requirements of MDG's and Partnership for clean indoor air broad objective. The project support community driven effort and address environmental threats on local scale within the Nile basin region in the area of development and use of alternative energy and construction materials. In the process of carrying out participatory planning and appraisals for Musamba, Matungu, Kholera and Khalaba, the villagers expressed the desire to get cheap alternative to fuel firewood energy and alternative to open fire 3-stone cooking method. In all this areas, villagers expressed their fears that trees are disappearing and as a result they use farm wastes like maize stalks for firewood. The same should be used to replenish soil fertility after the crop season and should not used in the kitchen as firewood. Others were resorting to cane trash and remnants.