Domestic biodigesters provide a way for households with livestock to reduce their dependence on polluting firewood and expensive fossil fuels. Cooking on biogas is fast and smokeless, improving family health, especially among women and children. Leftover slurry from the biogas process is an excellent organic fertilizer that improves crop yields – and having more vegetables to sell, provides families with extra income.

Kenya was among the first countries in Africa to adopt biogas technology in the early 1950`s. However, scaling only occurred with the introduction of the Kenya Biogas Programme in 2009. The Kenya Biogas Programme is implemented by African Bioenergy Programmes Ltd (ABPL). The overall objective is to develop a commercially viable biogas sector that supports the use of domestic biogas as a local, sustainable energy source.

Since the start of the programme in 2009, over 18,000 biodigesters have been built across Kenya; early 2020 88% of them were in operation and use. Entrepreneurship is encouraged and, to date, nearly 100 masons have started their own business entities, helping to build the local economy.

A barrier for some families is the cost to apply the biogas technology, the programme has therefore initiated credit partnerships with financial institutions. Working together with rural micro finance institutions and saving cooperatives, it ensures that biodigester buyers get the most favourable credit terms. Income from carbon credit sales benefits directly biogas users in forms of after-sales support, bioslurry training and other useful services.

Hivos founded and strengthened ABPL to enable it to take on implementation of the Kenya Biogas Programme. In 2021 Hivos handed over carbon project development and certification. FairClimateFund supports international marketing and selling carbon credits generated from this project.

Project impacts and benefits:
18,346 biodigesters installed
110,076 direct beneficiaries
378,732 tCO2 reduced
260,600 ton of wood saved
10,852 households use bioslurry as fertilizer
31 private enterprises
107 full time jobs plus part-time unskilled day labour