Reducing poverty in the Sahel through energy efficiency and renewable energies

Project description

Title: Reducing poverty in the Sahel through energy efficiency and renewable energies
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Burkina Faso
Lead executing agency: Ministère de l'Environnement et des Ressources Halieutiques
Overall term: 2005 to 2016

Context

Burkina Faso meets over 80 per cent of its energy requirements from the traditional energy sources of wood and charcoal. As a result, more wood is being consumed than is being regrown, prompting a decline in vegetation and the erosion of soils. This development has further consequences, particularly for women. In rural areas, they have to cover increasingly large distances to find firewood; in cities, fuel prices are on the increase.

Objective

In Burkina Faso's two major cities and its rural regions, 1.19 million people are equipped with energy-saving cooking technology.

Approach

The intention is for local people to produce and sell the energy-efficient stoves independently. On training courses, stove producers learn not only production techniques but also how to market the stoves. The project supports the manufacturers in their efforts to form associations, monitor the quality of their products and determine suitable prices for the stoves so that the population can afford them.

To raise awareness about the stoves, the project presents them at mass weddings, festivals, sales fairs, trade fairs and similar events.

Since 2013, the project has also been addressing fuel production. Planting activities that use particularly fast-growing trees have been piloted together with associations of wood consumers. In addition, the use of alternative fuels from agricultural waste is being investigated.

Burkina Faso's state research institute for applied sciences and technologies developed the stoves that are being distributed through the project and is also delivering the training for the stove producers.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) launched the project in 2005. Since December 2011, the EU has also been contributing financially to the project. Since then, the project has become part of the regional ‘Programme for Efficient Cooking Energy in West Africa’, which operates in Benin, Mauritania and Senegal as well as in Burkina Faso.

The Energising Development (EnDev) energy partnership is a results-oriented global programme whose partners comprise Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Australia, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Results

The stove producers have sold a total of more than 500,000 stoves within eight years. Across the country, more than 1,200 trained craftspeople are working in the three sub-sectors producing metal, ceramic and clay stoves. These craftspeople have organised themselves into producer associations and built up their own distribution network.

In addition, they have established and consolidated the sales structures throughout the country. The stoves carry an independent trademark that is now well established in Burkina Faso. The producers monitor their quality and have introduced their own control system for this purpose. A marketing strategy is in place and is being implemented by the manufacturers. The producer associations obtain marketing and production materials via the project.