Rwanda: 632 families helped by the Energie Verte et Élevage project grateful for the impacts of Cooking biogas in their living conditions

632 families in four districts of the Southern Province of Rwanda are grateful for the changes in their living conditions, thanks to the Energie Verte et Élevage (EVE) project that helped them to obtain cooking biogas.

These families testify that the cooking biogas has solved the problem of lack of firewood while at the same time contributing to environmental conservation.

They also added that cooking biogas has helped them to be clean in the kitchen and get better fertilizer for cultivation.

These communities in Nyamagabe, Nyanza, Huye and Ruhango districts have been assisted in the construction of biogas since 2014 by the Energie Verte et Élevage (EVE) project for rural development with focus on the use of biogas energy mainly from fresh cow manure.

The project was launched in 2007 following the National Domestic Biogas Program, which aims to reduce the use of biomass as part of stopping deforestation.

Mbaraga Venuste of Ngambi Cell in Mbazi Sector in Nyamagabe District says he received the cooking biogas in 2018 and has helped him since he is no longer facing the problem of cooking energy adding that the use of Cooking Biogas keeps the kitchen clean among many other benefits.

“I used to have difficulty finding firewood but now the problem has been solved. The other is that it speeds up the cooking time.” He said.

“For instance, we used to cook beans for four hours using firewood, on biogas it is one hour. In addition, there is cleanliness in the kitchen and no smoke or ashes ” Mbaraga added.

Mukarugira Esperance also says that in addition to the fact that biogas has solved the cooking energy problem, it also provides good fertilizer for the crops.

 “Once the biogas has been already produced, the remaining cow dung produces a lot of good fertilizer, when one puts it in the soil it makes the soil productive. As a bean farmer, I used to harvest 50 kg in case I used ordinary manure, and when I used manure from biogas remains I harvested more than 100 kg because the biogas fertilizer is like industrial fertilizer. ” She said.

Of the 632 people who received biogas, about 132 have already been provided with water storage tanks to get enough water for their cows and for the biogas production process while also promoting cleanliness at household level.

Kubwimana Domitile said, “We have access to water for cows and sanitation so that we have now been relieved of the burden of travelling distances to look for water.”

Bimenyimana Désiré, project manager for the Energie Verte et Élevage (EVE) project, said the project was launched in 2014 to support the government’s plan to promote the use of biogas in households to reduce deforestation.

“From 2014 to 2019, the biogas project has been implemented by two organizations, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières-Belgium (VSF-B) and the Rwanda Imbaraga Farmers’ Organization in Huye, Nyanza and Nyamagabe and in 2018, Ruhango district was added to the project.” Bimenyimana explains.

He added that the project has been funded by the Belgian Government (DGD) since 2014, after which by 2020 it was funded by the Belgian Province Vlaams-Brabant (Provincie Vlaams Brabant).

Bimenyimana highlighted that they first teach the community about the benefits of biogas and then those who agree we provide them with the construction support while they also contribute their role in the Biogas establishment process.

“We help the community to build a biogas storage facility, provide them with the cement needed and other equipment related to building a biogas reservoir, and help them to well construct livestock enclosure so that manure can be easily accessed and treated to start producing Biogas

“We help the beneficiary find a water storage tank and pay the technician to organize and prepare the reservoir, but the community also contributes to the installation of that water tank. We have also trained some community members on how to rehabilitate the damaged Biogas system.” He said.

Bimenyimana noted that where the project works for the community, many residents have also asked for the support as they witness the changes in the beneficiary families.

The Cooking Biogas Project, sponsored by Provincie Vlaams-Brabant, is scheduled to end in December 2021, with VSF-Belgium partner in talks with the Belgian Government (DGD) to extend the project and other activities aimed at the development of the rural population.