Women participants prepare char powder for briquetting
ARTI-TZ completed sustainable charcoal briquettes training in Bagamoyo District this past July making the District the first of four in Coast Region to receive intensive training on charcoal kiln fabrication, charring of dry biomass, briquetting and promotion of charcoal briquettes.
The training is made possible with the support of the World Bank’s Biomass Energy Initiative for Africa (BEIA) and with the partnership with the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT), Forestry and Bee Keeping Department and District Authorities.
Kiln fabrication in Magomeni Village, Bagamoyo District
The MNRT assisted ARTI-TZ with introductory letters of support to District Councils, who in turn provided direct support through the District Forest Officer, Joseph J. Msaki. The DFO assisted with providing an overview of deforestation in the District as well as priority areas for training to take place. In addition to the technical support the DFO proved to be a valuable resource in meeting Village Councils, travelling with the ARTI-TZ team to visit short listed villages from which a total of 12 villages were selected.
The first briquettes of a training are made
In all, a total of 360 participants in 12 Villages were trained. Each village trained had 30 participants comprised of men and women farmers, charcoal producers, business people, teachers and Village Council members. The 12 villages trained are Lugoba, Pingo, Kikaro, Mbwewe, Msata, Dunda, Magomeni, Kiromo, Vigwaza, Kerege and Makurunge.
Bagamoyo, being the first of four Districts, allowed the ARTI-TZ trainers to hone their skills and modify their approach to training. For example, the larger kiln was replaced with a smaller more efficient kiln. This not only increased the speed of charcoal production, but better utilized the dry biomass and allowed for 5 kilns to be produced rather than three.
As part of our efforts to commercialize charcoal briquettes we are putting emphasis on monitoring and evaluation activities. Carla Acosta, an intern from York University in Toronto, Canada participated in two trainings, and following the trainings worked with Lulu Mwammenywa from ARTI-TZ, to conduct M&E of the villages trained. Several lessons were learned from the M&E including the need to streamline the training to provide more time for training on business skills, commercialization, ways in which trainers could have greater gender inclusion, and the need for more hand tools to speed up the fabrication process.
Participants packing dried charcoal briquettes
In order to ensure the villages continue to commercialize their technology, two interns from ARDHI University – School of Environmental Science and Technology, Edgar Lisso and Mwinyi Abdulkadir, have joined the ARTI-TZ team to assist villages in the initial stages of adopting the new technology and to develop “District Champions” who can work to coordinate villages producing charcoal powder and briquettes making them more efficient and viable for larger investment.
The entire team would like to thank all the stakeholders who have made the training in Bagamoyo possible. We hope to build on this success as we conduct training in Kibaha, Kisararwe and Mkuranga Districts.
If you are interesting in charcoal briquette training or setting up a briquetting plant in Dar es Salaam using char powder produced by the villages we have trained, please contact dennis@arti-africa.org.