Briquette Training - Bududa & Kapchorwa
From the 20th-22nd January 2014, JEEP carried out 2 awareness and training sessions in the districts of Bududa, Kapchorwa and Budaka. This training aimed at creating awareness on the effects of climate change and the depleting forest cover resulting from cutting down of trees for wood and charcoal fuel.
Well, the use of briquettes as an alternative to wood fuel would serve to reduce the pressure on green cover especially trees since they are made from locally available biomass materials such as coffee husks, wood shavings, sticks, shrubs, grasses and agricultural plant remains.
A total of 4 briquette press machines, 4 carbonizers and 4 crushers were allocated to the different groups trained. In addition, 2 waste dryers and 2 briquette driers were constructed to dry wet biomass wastes before carbonization and the briquettes after carbonization respectively.
The communities were taken through step by step process of how quality briquettes are made from the carbonization of biomass wastes to the final drying of the briquettes. The element of tree planting was also incorporated in the training so that residents would also put more emphasis on tree planting to help combat climate change effects as well as providing a source of biomass materials (pruning’s)
The communities appreciated and embraced the new technology brought to them and promised to take it up as a means to solve the wood fuel crisis in their areas as an alternative to charcoal and firewood which have become scarce and expensive.
ties were taken thorough step by step process by JEEP Trainers of how quality briquettes are made from the carbonization of biomass wastes to the final drying of the briquettes.
UPDATE JULY 2014
Energy saving stove/Tree planting and Briquette follow up initiative
On the 10th and 11th of July 2014 JEEP and Safe Neighborhood Foundation staff carried out a follow - up on briquette and tree planting initiative. The objective of the follow up was to assess the progress of project activities, encourage participants to implement what they were taught, correct any possible mistakes and collect data. Out of thirteen participants trained in the past in tree nursery establishment, stove construction and briquette making, nine participants were followed up by visits and interviews.
SNF and JEEP staff advised the community to persistently use energy saving stoves because of their benefits compared to the open three stone stoves since out of the forty seven stoves constructed, only three were in use.
Nakityo Janet one of the trained resident informed the SNF and JEEP staff that her stove cooks well and uses less firewood emitting less through the chimney of her kitchen.
Mr Martin Mugali TOT a trained resident who had constructed 22 stoves received a solar lamp from JEEP as motivating gift during the follow up.
A follow up on tree planting assessed that some community residents had planted and raised 15,000 mango seedlings, 1500 musizi seedlings, 200 mango seedlings, 1500 eucalyptus seedlings, 4000 kayapo seedling, 2000 lemon seedlings, 100 jackfruit seedlings and over 2000 ornamental tree seedlings. A total of 9 participants were visited in the sub counties of Mugiti, Iki – Iki, Budaka, Naboa, Kameruka, Kaderuna, Kakule, and Kamonkoli.
Under the briquette making initiative, JEEP followed up the SNF staff who produced 174 briquettes using charcoal dust, maize cobs and cassava flour of which fuel which took 4 days were used to cook millet bread and water whereas at SNF training centre, staff had produced 136 briquettes using jatropha, charcoal dust and cassava flour which took 7 days to dry up.
