Scaling Up: Promoting Smokeless Fuel & Sustainable Incomes for Women
Location: Boose Village, Nyamira County, Kenya
Following the success of Promoting Smokeless Fuel & Sustainable Incomes for Women in Sironga Village, Flicker of Hope will be scaling this project and responding to the demand to bring the same opportunities to other communities. The organization aims to organize and empower vulnerable rural populations in drought prone areas, with an emphasis on women and children, by helping them to build sustainable livelihoods and to empower the communities to become self-reliant.
This project will follow the same two-fold strategy to bring smokeless bio-briquettes and cookstoves to the Boose Village, one of the poorest communities in the county. The project will serve to reduce deforestation, utilize untapped resources, increase public health, and provide income to rural women who will produce the bio-briquettes. The briquettes are made primarily from brush and bushes, which until now have not been utilized as a resource and also inhibit forest growth.
This phase of the project will employ 400 women to produce the briquette charcoal from wood waste and farm debris as an alternative energy source to fuel homes, institutions and businesses in villages and towns. This energy source will be a more affordable option for families and businesses and will help rehabilitate land through agroforestry and promote the planting of trees on farms.
The organization will hold 24 live demonstrations to show the community the potential of the briquettes. They will then partner with other community based organizations to build capacity for bio-briquette production. The women who help with production will be able to use the product, earn additional income and manage their own small businesses.
This project is in line with Kenya’s national priorities for environmental preservation. Flicker of Hope will provide education around the local effects of deforestation and climate change as well as the benefits of utilizing bio-briquettes instead of burning wood in homes. They will also create entrepreneurial opportunities for women in rural villages who may not have other sources of income.
Flicker of Hope and Rockflower are pleased to scale up this dynamic project and to improve the quality of life and the environment in the Boose Village of Nyamira County.
