A CARITAS KENYA AND PACJA PILOT COMMUNITY-
BASED PROJECT ON INTEGRATED CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION/MITIGATION
gichungerobert@yahoo.com
caritas@dioceseofmeru.org

All these initiatives are in Kamutune demonstration farm

•
A type of organic farming developed to cushion communities from effects of climate change
• Offers alternative development pathway that is more sustainable
• In a climate-constrained future, innovative livelihood options must be developed
• Biofarm is one such innovative way to sustainably utilise the diminishing natural resources.

•
Biofarm in adaptation and mitigation
• Biofarm and sustainable development
• Biofarm and modern technology
• Biofarm and health/environment/ecology
• Biofarm and innovation/enterprise development
• Biofarm and
empowerment
• Biofarm and natural resource management (NRM)

• Components are zero-grazing unit, biogas plant and an organic garden, promoted together with water harvesting as a single unit.
• Also involves sustainable water management, i.e rain water harvesting, storage and use.
• Promotes innovations, inventions and use of technology i.e; plastic digesters, biogas incubators/brooders and generators, drip irrigation in organic agriculture
• Biofarming is the ability to “recharge nature” – tree planting, water use, responsible use of energy, recycling, conservation (closed energy system)

• In a Biofarm!, there is a symbiotic relationship between components; Cattle stable, Biogas plant,
RWH system, Organic garden are connected to each other by a umbilical cord such that none can survive without each other!
• It combines innovation and appropriately easy-to- use traditional organic farming methods with scientific knowledge of ecology and modern technology.

More than organic farming, more than biogas…
• Evaluation of biogas and organic farming projects in Kenya and the rest of the world; The Biofarm attempts to bridge the gaps in adoption/uptake and sustainability
• For traditional biogas projects, energy is the main driving force!
• For convenctional organic farming projects, reduced or no use of inorganic chemicals and fertilizers is the main objective!

WHY BIOFARM?…
• Biofarming (biofarmer) aims to promote an integrated animal husbandry, innovative use of biogas to produce clean fuel, power income generating enterprises and act as the main source of organic fertilizer for organic garden which utilizes rain and waste water for small-scale irrigation.
The driving force of Biofarm is responsible use of resources for sustainable food production and income generation!

BIOFARM AND INNOVATION
1. Rain water harvesting technologies; conventional ferro-cement, plastic and masonry tanks being replaced by cheaper RWH technologies like underground rubble-lined tanks, underground
HDPE lined ponds.
RESULTS
• Reduction in costs of harvesting and storage per cubic meter of water.
• Increase in storage capacity (volume)
• Increase in productivity(outcome)

BIOFARM AND INNOVATION
2. Organic farming; Effective water use through drip irrigation, greenhouse farming and dry-land farming technologies.
RESULTS
• Effective use of water for increased yields (yields per acre and acreage).
• Costs of production (inputs- agrochemicals/inorganic fertilizers, weeds)
• Reduced incidences of losses (harsh weather, pests and diseases)

BIOFARM AND INNOVATION
3. Bio gas utilization; Biogas and industrialization/enterprise development; use of biogas in incubation and brooding in poultry farming.
RESULTS
• Costs reduction compared to electricity, petrol/kerosine and wood fuel to power incubators and brooders
• Risks and reliability ( stand by sources of power)

More than organic farming, more than biogas…
• Biofarm is more than biogas, more than organic farming and more than animal husbandry!
• It is a solution to weather-related setbacks affecting smallholder producers who also face diminishing returns on their farm products due to population pressure, degraded soils and water scarcity.
• A feasibility study commissioned by Biogas for Better Life in Kenya found out that Biogas technology has not picked up in Kenya because it is expensive to maintain alone.
• It has always been viewed in isolation as a primary source of domestic energy.

More than organic farming, more than biogas…
• On the other hand, organic farming projects in Kenya depend more on subsidies offered as incentives which are not sustainable and only address the interests of the consumer/market
• A normal Organic farm relies on external sources to generate green manure/compost without necessarily worrying about its source or existence of animals as primary sources. An organic farmer can thus produce organic products even without animals.
• Biofarm! Addresses this by bringing in other components to compliment the system making it more sustainable and attractive to farmers.

• The Biogas component will reduce the amount of methane directly released into the atmosphere, by trapping it and facilitating its use as a green fuel.
• In addition, the shift to biogas reduces forest degradation, thus serving as carbon sink
• Organic farming minimizes the use chemical fertilizers which are sources of GHGs
• Tree planting is a component of the biofarm model, and this will increase the forest cover

Three year pilot project by PACJA and Caritas Kenya
– A standard biogas plant of 16m 3 in the pilot project in
Kamutune Community Resource Centre-Meru County translates to 0.5 Ha of forest each year saved in terms of wood fuel requirements
– The proposed 3m 3 for 500 households surrounding the
Mt. Kenya forest to be Biofarmers will save more than
150Ha of the forest every year.

Cont…….
– The use of renewable energy reduces the CO
2
-emissions through a reduction of the demand for fossil fuels.
Capturing uncontrolled methane emissions, the 2 nd most important GHG is reduced!
• The three grade cattle at KCRC produces an average of 0.35m
3 of manure = 8m 3 biogas = 52 kWh gross = 13 kg CO
2
- emissions
• 8m 3 biogas (up to 65% CH4) = 4 lts fossil fuel = 12.8 kg CO
2
• 8m 3 biogas = 44 kg fire wood = 88 kg CO
2

Cont…….
• By extending the KCRC findings to a single household;
– Sampled household size (6 persons) had an average per capita consumption of 4 kg of wood per day for energy
(cooking, heating and boiling water; type of food was
90% maize and beans-Githeri) 17 kWh (equivalent to
1USD per day of electricity) which could be covered by about 3m 3 of biogas.
– Annually, 1,460 kgs of wood per household = 6,200KWh
(370 USD per year). A 3m 3 biogas plant can save more than one and half tons of firewood or 0.3 acres of forest per year.


An average biogas plant of 16m 3 can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 5 – 10 tons of CO2 annually. In case
CDM and voluntary markets purchase these offsets by say
5 to 10 Euros per ton, this would provide households with an estimated average income of 30 – 40 Euros (Shs.3000 –
4000 ) per year.

Other sources of income in future if we preserve our forests: REDDs; Kenya has already been selected by WB for a pilot project in forest investment partnership

• Diversification (changing the crop mix) dry-land farming technologies
• Conservation agriculture
• water harvesting and drip irrigation technology
• promoting innovations
• Monitor climate change events
• Disseminating information/research
• Awareness creation and advocacy
• Building the capacity of farmers

Vegetables grown under drip irrigation in an open field

From the zero grazing unit, the dung is collected and channeled through this tunnel that leads to the digestion chamber.
In this tunnel, one is able to separate feeding residue from the dung and urine which are the key ingredients for biogas production.

From the zero grazing unit, the dung is collected and channeled through this tunnel that leads to the digestion chamber.
In this tunnel, one is able to separate feeding residue from the dung and urine which are the key ingredients for biogas production.