Biogas in Tanzania
Helping people to help themselves: Biogas plants in Tanzania lead to cleaner cooking energy, less deforestation, fewer respiratory diseases, more time for the families and new jobs.
In Africa, women and girls have to collect firewood for hours every day in order to light up an open fireplace. This means that the woods are continuously being cut down. Open cooking fires also pose risks: Burns and respiratory diseases are not uncommon among the women and children who cook every day. The demand for alternative energy in the region is therefore enormous.
Together with Engineers Without Borders, the BayWa Foundation started to set up micro biogas plants in private households in Tanzania in 2010. The owners of biogas plants receive ongoing training so that they can service, maintain and repair their biogas plant themselves. With the newly gained knowledge, they can in turn build new biogas plants. This creates additional jobs and thus helps them to help themselves.
The BayWa Foundation has already been able to achieve this in Tanzania:
- Clean cooking energy is provided to the residents by the biogas plants
- Protection of health and the environment
- Establishment of a biogas competence centre for the training of residents
- Creation of new jobs
