Following my visit to Practical Action’s Kenya office, I travelled overland from Nairobi to Arusha in Tanzania, with 2 colleagues from Kenya and Sri Lanka. We got a first hard view of the extensive major road works being undertaken between the two countries, which turned the 250 km journey into a 7 hour journey, as well as magnificent views of rural life and the snowy peaks of Kilimanjaro.
The following 3 days of meetings were hosted by the University of Dar-Es-Salaam, for the 5-year Pisces bioenergy consortium meeting, which brought partners from the UK, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania together.
Each group presented their recent research, which is aimed at influencing policy on the sustainable use of bioenergy, including work on biofuel production and usage, charcoal production, cook stove projects and climate change adaptation. The meeting allowed a fantastic opportunity for in depth discussion and collaboration between the partners and across continents on a wide variety of bioenergy issues.
The meetings ended with a number of very interesting field trips to visit a household biogas facility which has been in operation for more than 10 years, an organisation producing efficient and locally manufactured cooking stoves (picture included) and an organisation producing locally grown Jatropha products including oil for lamps, medicinal soap and efficient Jatropha seed stoves (picture included). The trip was highly successful and enormously energising!!
