Sanga Moses Is on a Crusade

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) On 15th January, 2009, Sanga Moses travelled to his village in Uganda, in East Africa, to visit his mother. It was a day that would change his life.

On his way home, he met his 12 year old sister carrying a bundle of firewood on her head. When she saw him, she started crying. She told him that she had missed school that day, because she had travelled for 10 kilometers to buy firewood for the family.

His sister is not alone. She is just one of millions of poor girls in Africa who have to miss school and travel for long distances to help their families find firewood. It is a chore which is often assigned to young girls, and as Uganda’s population increases and the demand for firewood increases, the bundles are getting farther and farther away.

As Sanga Moses reflected, “This is happening because of unsustainable deforestation. Africa is losing over 4 million hectares of forests every year. At this rate, Africa will have no forests left by 2052.”

We’ve done so much to foster Africa’s ability to keep children alive — but what about cooking fuel?

Sanga decided to do something about it, and formed a social enterprise called Eco-Fuel Africa in June 2010 to make biochar from agricultural waste as an alternative to wood. He started with $500, passion and determination and not much else.

The farmer goes through 100 kilos to make 15 kilos of charcoal, and can use up to 7500 kilos of biomass per kiln per day to make up to one tonne of raw charcoal, which Eco-fuel then converts into briquettes.

So, a farmer can be making up to $60 per day from waste, or $21,900. Compare this to the less than $5 per day income of a Ugandan farmer. The kilns are purchased via Eco-fuel and can be micro-financed. READ MORE