Richard Stanley with trainees at a fuel briquette training session in Arusha, Tanzania, in March.
During his recent visit to Tanzania, Legacy Foundation
founder, Richard Stanley, wrote the following letter to The Guardian, a Dar es Salaam newspaper, in response to an article about extensive and damaging use of charcoal for cooking. The letter, which clearly states the advantages of fuel briquetting, was later published in The Guardian.
I’d like your readers to be aware of the fact that an economically viable, income generating, and environmentally sustainable alternative exists in the form of micro-enterprise/ community based biomass fuel briquette production. Locally trained producers work with their locally made presses and reach their own local markets. Resources are generally free; viz. waste agricultural residues (leaves, grasses, straws, husks, pods, corn cobs, coffee husks, etc.,) with — or without — commercial processed wastes; viz., paper, carton board, rice husks, sawdust, charcoal dust and waste crumbs — just about anything that burns well as a carboniferous residue can be blended in to make the fuel briquette. The resulting product competes well with charcoal, both thermally and cost-wise. It is in fact now established in dozens of nations across our shared planet.
The technology has been in the region for the past six years but has only been introduced to Tanzania two years ago, with training of several vicobas of the Chamavita organisation up in Lushoto. With their production capacity established, we have just completed a training of trainers course for Chamavita producers as well as for other producers in Kenya and Uganda. Lushoto is now well equipped to do expanded training throughout Tanzania. The presses are made both in Arusha and in Leshoto but can be made anywhere there is a good juakali fundi ya mbao– bila umeme. The hand- powered mechanical chopping device is being made in Arusha through another locally owned and managed ogranisation called Tropical Solar Systems. . . and it could not come too soon…
It greatly saddens most of us to see the destruction of the natural woodlands in Tanzania . . . However I want to now assure you that a locally proven alternative is already available through the mentioned group in Lushoto. They are now able to train others at a their own reasonable fees. . .
The opportunity from a small business standpoint seems very good. At the end of training several days ago, we witnessed the capacity of these village based trainers who went to the local soka by themselves and returned 45 minutes later, having sold 30,000 Tsh worth of their briquettes. While this is exciting to them, it is sobering to note that this represents less than 1% of the market for Lushoto town.
The opportunity for local income generation with minimum start up hassle, while directly tackling the whole deforestation issue, is right here now in our lap. In doing so however, the income generation effect can be substantial. One 4 to 6 person production team doubles or triples their conventional daily wages but in doing so, they are only reaching a market of at best, 50 families (about 300 persons). The resulting production teams are designed to be self sufficient and as with any commodity in the local market, simple market forces in this difficult-to-monopolize activity assure quality and highly efficient briquette fuel, in direct competition to wood and charcoal. Its no wonder that the Tanzanian, Ugandan, and Kenyan trainer teams have coined the term, “Wao, Brikettes: Ttunza Mazingira!”
Asante,
Richard Stanley,
www.legacyfound.org
On the weekend of April 17, 18, and 19, a major step ahead in development of the fuel briquette program happened when Mr. Hande Mwanjela came to Dodoma from Lushoto, Tanzania, to discuss prospects for training in briquette making. Plans were made for a full week of training in Dodoma in early June by a pair of trainers that will provide a solid foundation for a successful briquetting program.
About a year ago, in the parking lot of our condominium complex in Portland, I got my first close-up view of a technology that has spread around the world. Richard and Joyce Stanley came from Ashland, Oregon, to introduce me to the significant field of biomass fuel briquetting. Take a look at 