TDBP Coordinator Leheda Shilla (PHOTO BY FRIDAY SIMBAYA)
NJOMBE: The Tanzania Domestic Biogas Program (TDBP) presence is being felt by farmers at the National Biogas Day Celebrations held in Njombe Region recently.
During the celebration a lot of local farmers testified about the benefits of using biogas and its byproduct called bio-slurry has changed their lives as compared to the years back before the program.
They said that the use of biogas has transformed their lives especially women who used to go in the forest to look for firewood which led to environmental destruction.
They are now using biogas for cooking and lighting therefore; it has relieved them from the burden of hunting for kerosene, firewood and charcoal as domestic energy for cooking.
Huruma is one of farmers at Ibumila Village in Njombe District, who said that she has seen a lot of benefits of biogas including reduction of firewood consumption, increase the value of fertilizers, multiplied love in the house, reduced time of washing plates and dishes, building a modern shed for cattle, pesticide and increased from six to 28 bags per acre.
She said that using bio-slurry which is the byproduct of biogas she has increased the harvest of crops tremendously.
Bio slurry is an organic fertilizer used in a lot of aspects of farming for instance, it is used as pesticide, use to produce fodder and it is used as fertilizer for vegetable production and used as chicken feeds.
She said by using biogas technology, she has managed together with her husband to take their three children to better schools and it has made her to travel up to Italy to learn how to produce fodders and animal husbandry.
According to the Tanzania Domestic Biogas Program (TDBP) Coordinator Leheda Shilla, biogas is changing people’s lives in Tanzania where over 90 percent of the population relies on wood-based fuel for domestic use as households collect firewood and charcoal for cooking, and lighting.
Shilla said that biogas is a clean, combustible, renewable gas produced by organic waste. Agriculture experts say it is much cheaper than traditional fossil fuel since farmers can obtain it from their own resources.
He said that while most urban areas depend on charcoal, the setting in rural villages’ gears for firewood and the task of fetching is almost exclusively left for women and girls.
“Cooking on wasteful traditional open fires daily has serious consequences for women's lives related to health, safety, economic circumstance, as well as the destruction of the natural environment on which millions of Tanzanians depend,” he said.
Shilla explained that the purpose of the celebration of national biogas in Njombe region was to encourage citizens who are not aware of the benefits of biogas to join the network of people using biogas and bio-slurry in order to minimize the impact of the deforestation in the country.
He said that another objective of the celebration is to sensitize cattle farmers who have not started using biogas plants to start using them because it will increase the livestock value chain.
He said first phase of this program focused on putting up 4000 plants biogas but this second phase aims to set up biogas plants up to 27,000 at household lever in order to preserve the forest.
The theme, "biogas for a better life and environmental conservation"
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