Humble Innovations - Food Waste to Briquettes π₯
Ecopreneurs transitioning East Africa to clean energy
Dear ReWilder,
βWe are in the midst of a climate crisis. As much as sub-Saharan Africa contributes the least to climate change, itβs the people here that are suffering the most.β
-Marvin Tumusiime - Program Manager, ENVenturem Energy NexusΒ
It is also the people here who are innovating and adapting and using the limited resources available to them to change the narrative and discourse around the African context, provide clean energy options, and save Ugandans time and money. According to the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA), more than 3 billion people around the world are dependent on polluting open fires or inefficient stoves to cook their food and heat their homes, which harms their health, the climate, and the environment.
The film above was created for SEED | Green Bio Energy; a young, award-winning social enterprise that offers low-income Ugandan families access to cost-saving, eco-friendly and safe energy solutions. Selling eco-friendly charcoal, energy-efficient stoves, solar lamps and water filters, Green Bio Energy is helping rural Uganda reduce pollution and enable money savings. The organisation also provides individuals and organizations with training on topics such as micro-enterprise management or briquettes production, and sells equipment for small-scale briquettes production.
βHow can we generate incomes while being sustainable; in terms of the products that we produce, in terms of the jobs that we provide, in terms of the environment that we are working in. How can we make it better?β
-Ziwa Hillington - Managing Director, Green Bio Energy
Green Bio Energy is an eco-inclusive enterprise that produces Briketi charcoal briquettes out of food waste. Leaders in alternative cooking solutions are helping East Africa transition to clean energy.Β
βGreen Bio Energy promotes the Sustainable Development Goals, but with a big emphasis on promoting clean energy, eliminating poverty and, of course, promoting gender as well.β
-Ziwa Hillington
What makes Green Bio Energy stand out is its vision. They call it "humble innovation", a middle ground between the Western technological expertise and local innovation capacity. Transdisciplinary approaches to innovation are changing the discourse in Africa and leading to more Ecopreneurs in the sustainability landscape. Marrying differing concepts, science and traditions with local expertise and capacity building is resulting a rise in ecopreneurial solutions that solve multiple challenges at once:Β
βEcopreneurship is on the rise in Africa, creating local solutions to alleviate poverty and various environmental problems ailing the different countries on the continent. An βecopreneurβ is exactly what it sounds like, an entrepreneur whose business focuses on creating or selling sustainable goods or services.β
-Borgen Magazine
News from ReWild Africa πΎ
ReWild recently returned from Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya, where our teams had the opportunity to engage with inspiring people changing the landscape of health and care, restoration, and renewable energy access in the African context. Watch this space!Β
ReWild is gearing up for COP26 next month; a critical summit for global climate action. If you donβt know what itβs about, read a summary of why itβs important here.
ReWild is excited to be heading to the Okavango in January to engage with experts on how to learn from water in landscapes and incorporate it into business, design, systems, and infrastructure.
Wild regards,
Team ReWild Africa