Over 1500 households in central region of Kenya top among them Kiambu County have benefited from the HomeBiogas Farmer system.
Located in four other counties namely Embu, Meru, Murang’a and Nyeri, the HomeBiogas Hubs have changed the lives of farmers by providing an alternative source of energy that is affordable, readily available and efficient.
Speaking to KNA, the head of marketing in the HomeBiogas Hub in Kiambu Susan Kuria stated that the company has invested in educating farmers about the HomeBiogas System from its operation to its benefits.
This she said is done through weekly demonstrations conducted at the hub.
“We are teaching different farmers how to handle the biodigester system and what benefit it is to them in terms of being environmentally friendly and also saving on fuel,” she said.
Ms. Kuria said the company also works with dairy co-operatives in Kiambu County to exhibit the system and train farmers at the events held by these co-operatives.
“We invite farmers to demo events that are held every Friday and facilitate their transport. We then take them through the entire process from the feeding the system to the production of the biogas, its benefits, how it would impact their lives, and then sign up those who intend to purchase the system. We have been partnering with the co-operatives of dairy farmers as well as industry events to exhibit and train in such events,” noted Kuria.
Besides the biogas, she explained that farmers stand to rake numerous benefits from the system since organic bio-fertilizer which is a byproduct of the system is very beneficial to the crops in the farm.
Bio fertilizer is characterized by sufficient macro and micronutrients required by the plant, liquid in nature, free of pathogens and ready to use. It has valuable benefits such as: presence of microorganisms and organic matter which enhances soil structure, quick infiltration to the root zone and increased yields.
“Chemical fertilizers are very expensive but now with the freely available cow dung, a farmer is able to get organic fertilizer for their crop. We are availing farmers in Kenya free cooking gas daily therefore eliminating the need to purchase firewood or charcoal anymore and by this, we are promoting forest cover and afforestation as well as saving citizens the money that would have been used to buy firewood or the LPG gas,” noted Kuria
Naomi Njeri, a farmer in Ting’ang’a, Kiambu County and a beneficiary of the HomeBiogas farmer system says life has been easier for her since she started using HomeBiogas for cooking.
“I have been using the HomeBiogas System for two years now and it has served me well. I no longer use firewood as much as I used to and this has made my work easier. The biogas produced lasts me up to two days,” said Njeri
Kuria adds that biogas energy has not been tapped into especially in comparison to the number of farmers who have cows in their homes.
She notes that as a company, they are looking into working with government agencies and government stakeholders to reach more farmers in the country.
“We want the company to establish a hub in every county because there is need to tap into biogas energy,” she said.
To produce sufficient cow dung, HomeBiogas recommends that the farmer should have at least two to three cows. Two buckets of cow dung are mixed with four buckets of water and stirred. The mixture is fed into the biodigester through an inlet. The biodigester has a mass of nine cubic meters. Once inside the biodigester, the manure is broken down by microorganisms through a process known as anaerobic digestion.
The process results into two products; biogas and bio slurry. The biogas is transported to the burner through pipes.
The residue produced is known as the bio-fertilizer or the bio slurry and serves as high quality manure as it infiltrates into the crops quickly.
The system provides the farmer with five hours of cooking gas and 100 litres of bio-fertilizer per day.
The company avails the system to the farmers at Sh87, 500 with available instalments of 25 months at Sh3300 per month. The cost covers purchase of the equipment and installation as well.
The installation also comes with perks such as a free two-burner, free agronomy training and accessible after-sales services to each farmer.
The HomeBiogas Farmer system is an Israeli-based technology and innovation applied in Kenya.
The company contributes to five of the UN Sustainable Development Goals; Affordable and Clean energy by availing cooking gas that is affordable and friendly to the environment, Gender Equality by eliminating the need for women to go fetch firewood for long distances, Zero Hunger by growing healthy sustainable crops and maintaining soil health with Bio-fertilizer, Good Health and Well-Being by eliminating exposure of women and children to the harmful smoke.
By Terry Njueini
