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Green People’s Energy for Africa: Domestic Biogas to Improve Rural Livelihood in Ethiopia

Hawassa University, Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Ethiopia

Abstract

A sustainable rural energy supply is one of the ways to improve rural livelihood as well as to reduce environmental problems. Ethiopia experiences energy and environmental crisis due to sustained reliance on woody biomass to satisfy its energy requirements. The situation gets worse in rural areas where access to modern energy is very low. The country in general has one of the lowest rates of access to modern energy sources, whereby the energy supply is primarily based on biomass. To address such energy related problems, Hawassa University signed prject agreement entitled Green People’s Energy: Domestic Biogas to improve rural livelihoods in Ethiopia. The small project aims to improve the rural livelihood through construction of biogas plant in Damot Woyde and Dugna Fango districts in Southern Ethiopia. Target smallholder farmers will have access to construct the technology at their backyard which will be used for lighting and cooking. Moreover, the by-product (slurry) can be used as organic fertiliser. The benefit of the technology in general includes improved health, reduced workload for women and children, improved education, prevent deforestation, improved soil fertility, job creation for local masons and promote rural youth entreprenership. Currently, the project is being implemented by Hawassa University in collaboration with Water, Mines and Energy Bureau and GIZ/EnDev. The project also envisages to bring several professionals together from the University, RBPCU, GIZ/EnDev, TVET and other stakeholder. This will be instrumental to enhance synergy and avoid duplication of efforts and inefficient utilisation of resources. The project follows a participatory monitoring and evaluation approach to ensure the effectiveness, ownership and sustainability of project interventions. Besides this, periodic reports and success stories will be produced to share implementation progresses, challenges, knowledge and best practices.

Keywords: Domestic biogas, energy supply, Ethiopia, rural livelihood

Contact Address: Hiwot Abayneh Ayele, Hawassa University, Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Hawassa, Ethiopia, e-mail: biscut98gmail.com