New deal to offer farmers renewable energy solutions

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has today announced a partnership with global environment conservation organization, Rainforest Alliance, for the roll-out of a project to provide smallholder tea farmers in Kenya with renewable energy solutions.

The project, dubbed Empowering Rural Communities and Households in Kenya with Renewable Energy (ERCHRE), will seek to reduce the amount of firewood used by households in the tea producing areas by catalyzing a renewable energy transition, from the use of firewood to smoke-free biomass briquettes.

The project will aim to reduce the amount of firewood used by households in the tea producing areas and will focus on sensitizing farmers on alternative sources of energy such as biomass, solar and improved energy-saving cooking stoves with an aim of conserving the environment.

The project will also seek to reduce the amount of wood fuel used in smallholder tea farmer factories across the country, by supporting the use of briquettes as a thermal energy option for steam generation.

Speaking at the partnership unveiling ceremony at a Nairobi Hotel today, KTDA Operations Director, Alfred Njagi, said:

“For us, the decision to enter into this partnership was seamless as it perfectly dovetailed with our strategic objective of transitioning smallholder tea farmers to more environmentally-friendly and green sources of energy. It is our conviction that in the short-term, this partnership will enhance awareness of the need for renewable energy, while in the long-term, we will have our smallholder tea farmers and factories adopt energy sources that have less impact on the environment,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Rainforest Alliance Regional Representative, Julius Ng’ang’a, said:

“We are delighted to be announcing this partnership with KTDA today as it marks the beginning of a transformative journey towards the enhancement and uptake of clean energy solutions in the country and, by extension, the region. We believe that at the end of this first phase of the project, there will reduction of about 30% on reliance of wood fuel by the 12 piloted factories.

The project will be rolled out across 12 factories across the country – with each chosen to represent one of the 12 KTDA administrative zones – and shall take 18 months. Factories that will benefit from this initiative include: Kagwe, Makomboki, Kanyenyaini, Iriaini, Kimunye, Kathangariri, Githongo, Tebesonik, Kobel, Tombe, Eberege, and Mudete.

The initiative will also include tree-planting engagements as well as capacity building on green energy among KTDA staff. Ultimately, the project aims to achieve a 30 percent reduction of firewood-use in 12 tea factories; in the process saving at least 156,500 trees accounting for about 260 acres of forest plantation annually. It will also seek to have 50,000 households using cleaner energy at the end of the period.