Nyeri farmers’ daily lives will undergo a double revolution: the supply of highly efficient organic fertiliser and access to sustainable energy, notably biogas. Raymond Chepkwony, Country Manager of Sistema.bio, announced on May 17 the installation of 43 500 biodigesters in this county located in the central province of Kenya. The decision follows a loan of 35 million Kenyan shillings ($350,000) from Kenya Climate Ventures, a World Bank fund that promotes rural climate change mitigation initiatives. “We are on track to scale up our interventions in Kenya and this round of funding will enable us to make a lasting and positive impact on a large number of smallholder farmers, initially in several Kenyan regions, but with a focus on regional expansion across borders,” said Chepkwony.
The Bio-digester Sistema.bio
The Sitstéma.bio biodigester, equipped with a hybrid reactor that accelerates the mechanisation process, first offers farmers more energy, while maintaining monthly costs at about the same level as they would spend on firewood, charcoal and kerosene. Fuels that, in contrast to biogas, blacken pots and release CO2, not to mention fine particles that become embedded in the lungs and cause respiratory diseases.
Second, rural people will profitably manage all organic waste generated in their homes. If this allows them to protect the environment and their health, the overall objective of the project is to increase farm productivity with organic fertilisers, achieve an adequate return on investment and save time and money.
To facilitate the acquisition of the biodigester, Sistema.bio provides farmers with interest-free payment plans. That is, the instalments will be set at the level of the monthly fuel expenditure previously granted by farmers.
With a turnover estimated this year at 15 million KSH, Sistema derives its income from the sale of biodigesters and the sale of utility accessories for cooking, heating, mechanical energy and electricity production. His long experience in the field includes the construction, installation and monitoring of biogas production programmes for over 300 households in Kenya.
Boris Ngounou