KENYA, Narok – At least 80pc of urban families in Sub-Saharan Africa use charcoal. But today, the production of charcoal has been linked to extensive deforestation, particularly in Africa.
Y News understands that 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted to produce and burn one tonne of charcoal.
However, it is now emerging that briquette can help end the production and use of wood charcoal in Kenya and Africa.
Against this backdrop, Maasai Mara University, which lies around the Mau ecosystem, is turning organic trash into helpful charcoal.
Mau Forest forms the headwaters of 12 major Kenyan rivers.
The Maasai people in Narok are largely nomadic pastoralists vulnerable to drought, which kills their livestock.
The area’s land is highly degraded, and the local Mau Forest has been severely impacted by timber logging, charcoal production, and firewood gathering to cook food.
The forest is among Kenya’s wettest and acts as a vital water catchment area and headwaters for numerous rivers, so its destruction has grave consequences for the nation’s freshwater resources.
Waste Biomass Convention
To mitigate this particular phenomenon, the Narok-based Maasai Mara University developed the waste biomass convention using briquette fuels.
Briquettes are compacted blocks used as heating or cooking fuel and last three times longer than ordinary charcoal.
They are used for cooking, barbecuing, and as a fuel source for heating purposes.
Marjan Khamis from Maasai Mara University told Y News that the climate action activities supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) started in 2019.
“We have been using waste biomass from the university, specifically waste paper. We also cut grass for this particular green energy while simultaneously maintaining the environment,” Marian said.
When Y News bumped into Marjan during Africa Climate Week, where Maasai Mara University was showcasing some climate action, initiatives, he said they also use wheat straws to make the briquettes.
“As you might be aware, Narok County is famous for wheat farming, so we also use wheat straws as our raw materials. The biochar we We mould from these waste materials using a machine or hands to make the briquette,” Marian explained.
He revealed that they can do 265 kg daily, which they dry for 2 to 3 days until ready for use.
“We complement the energy we use at the university with 18% fuel from the briquettes,” he added.
He said they also use the programmes to incentivize the local community to embrace clean energy to conserve the Mau ecosystem.
This comes after a recent satellite data analysis revealed that the largest montane forest in East Africa, Kenya’s Mau Forest, is losing tree cover despite efforts to protect it.
This is most likely because of illicit logging and agricultural development.
The Mau Forest, which spans around 2,700 square kilometres (1,042 square miles) in western Kenya and is roughly twice the size of London or Los Angeles is essential as the nation’s largest water catchment area.
According to forest monitoring organisations, human pressures caused the loss of almost 25% of the forest between 1984 and 2020.
Satellite data from the monitoring platform Global Forest Watch (GFW) shows that between 2001 and 2022, Mau Forest lost 19% of its tree cover, or about 533 square kilometres (205 square miles).
According to data and satellite photos, deforestation will still occur in the Mau Forest protected area complex in 2023, especially in the Londiani, Mount Londiani, Mau Narok, Eastern Mau, and Olpusimoru forest reserves.
“To survive, some people are cutting down trees. The impact on the community is unimportant to anyone, as a local, Benson Letoo, told Y News.
“As you know, forests and water catchment areas have been eliminated due to environmental degradation, including the South Rift Valley’s Mau Forest, which is currently in danger of extinction,” Marian said.
However, it is noteworthy that most deforestation in Mau is caused by the growth of agriculture, which clears land for crops and animals via slash-and-burn techniques.
Small-scale agricultural fires frequently occur in the reserve and the surrounding buffer zones.
Y News has also established that between 2012 and 2017, fires accounted for up to 14% of the reserve’s yearly forest loss.
Deforestation hampered access to clean water.
Daniel Ole Sankole, a community leader, has cautioned that if the Mau Forest continues to deteriorate, millions of people who depend In this crucial ecosystem, water security and biodiversity could be at risk.
Millions of people rely on the Mau Forest for their water supply, and according to Sankole, its continuous degradation will impact this vital ecosystem.
He cautions that the community will lose much of its biodiversity if this decline continues.
Meanwhile, Marian reiterated that Maasai Mara University’s strategic location inside the boundaries of the Mau ecosystem and the Mara Game Reserve motivates the use of alternative fuels to mitigate the causes of climate change.
“Through the MMARAU Community Initiative, we are training the locals on renewable energies (biogas and briquette fuels). The Directorate of Research and Innovation is undertaking the community outreach programme,” he concluded.
To combat poverty-driven deforestation, a local NGO called Bamboo Junction operates tree nurseries and outreach programmes.
However, the organisation claims that resource conflicts between the Maasai and Kipsigis tribes are impeding efforts and causing further damage to the forest.
Conservationists contend that since the Mau Forest’s protection status does not shield it from harm, immediate action and stricter Enforcement is required to rescue what is left of the forest.
Meanwhile, Kevin McLean, President of Sun24, a US-based NGO working in Africa, told Y News that the top-down burn method frees up the production of briquettes.
In a top-down fire, the enormous logs are placed at the bottom, while the smaller logs and kindling are added.
The fire is lit from the top, and once it catches, it spreads to the wood at the bottom.
Some call it a feeding fire, but the principles are the same.
“Char made with the top-down burn method can make biochar or briquettes. A farmer only needs a plastic pipe to make high-quality briquettes. Farmers can grow elephant grass for briquettes and make ten times the profit than grease maize,” McLean explains.
The side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta), the nocturnal bongo antelope (Tragelaphus eurycerus), the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), the endangered African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), and many other rare and endemic plant species, such as orchids, are among the wildlife found in this rich Mau ecosystem biodiversity.
According to Birdlife International, a robust and varied bird community makes the area an Important Bird Area.
McLean disclosed that plants that make good char with a top-down burn should be dry.
“Most dry plants work well, including maize stalks, rice straw, elephant grass, sugarcane bagasse, beanstalks, bamboo waste, and wheat straw, and mesquite branches,” he explained.
Y News also established that it’s been almost ten years since Grace Gitiha ventured into making briquettes.
This time, the demand for the charcoal alternatives she produces has convinced her that she has made the correct business decision.
Gitiha said she sources her raw materials from various renewable and organic sources.
When Y News visited her premises in Naivasha, Nakuru County, Gitiha revealed that she also correctly uses market waste, and plans are underway to pilot avocado and mango seeds.
