Smallholder Livestock Systems Support: Experiences

from the National Biogas Program of Ethiopia (NBPE)

Alemayehu T

Conference on Policies for Competitive Smallholder Livestock Production

Gaborone, Botswana, 4-6 March 2015

Introduction

Over 88% of all citizens in Ethiopia rely on

biomass fuel for cooking and lighting.

About77% of agricultural families having

cattle.

therefore, many Ethiopians are eligible for

biogas installation.

To promote the uptake of domestic biogas,

since 2008, The National Biogas Programme of

Ethiopia (NBPE) is developed to disseminate

domestic biogas and develop a commercially

viable market biogas sector in four selected

regions in Ethiopia.

Cont…

9830

731

1,643

2,509

3,150

2,517

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Cont…Digesters built since 2008

Some stories

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Biogas products and Bio-Slurry

Bio‐slurry application at farm level

Synergy

Poor Bio‐slurry Management

Cont.….

NBPE- Goal & Objectives

The overall goal of NBPE is to improve the livelihood

and quality of life of rural households through the

exploitation of market and non-market benefits of

domestic biogas.

This is realised through replacement of

unsustainable utilization of wood and charcoal for

cooking and lighting; the application of high-value

organic fertilizer from the bio-slurry; and

improvement of the overall economic situation of

rural households.

A second phase will allow exploiting the experience

gained during the 1st phase and increase the number

of bio digesters built during phase I with an

additional 20,000 bio-digesters to be constructed

during the period 2014-2017.

The key result of the program will be 20,000 biogas

plants installed, building on the achievements in

Phase I.

Expected Results

About 120,000 beneficiaries will be expected form

phase II.

This will yield an estimated energy production of

92,000MWh and a GHG emission reduction of

80,000 tCO2eq.

Generate substantial income opportunities for local

companies, masons and financial institutions,

especially in rural and peri-urban areas.

Cont…

The programme will look for an increasingly market driven

sector, in which the private sector will play a more active

role in the development of the sector.

Amulti-stakeholder approach will remain an important

strategic element involving besides government

institutions on national, regional and local level.

Increasing affordability of the bio digester technology

will remain a key attention point for the programme and

striving for cost reductions during the 2nd phase.

Strategic Orientation

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED

Better integration between livestock and crops by useof bio-slurry as organic fertilizer.

Better maintenance of biogas units, limited technicalskill especially at Woreda (district) levels

Less commitment of some stakeholders than expected.

Absence of organized biogas construction enterprises

low involvement of the private sector in the programme.

NBPE will also address the following challenges

encountered during the first phase:

There are many different NGOs in the country

already promoting biogas, however they tend

to focus on the health and labour benefits of

replacing firewood, charcoal and dried manure

with CH4 from biogas.

However, the potential for leaks and poor

slurry management that can result in increased

SLCPs and other GHG emissions were ignored.

Strategic Action

small-scale biodigester may become large sources of

CH4 if not properly maintained and the slurry from

these digesters may emit SLCPs and lose value as a

fertilizer if not properly stored and applied to fields.

Building capacity in digester maintenance and slurry

management and helping frame policies will lead to a

reduction in SLCPs from these bio-digesters and

improve nutrient losses from farms.

Cont…

Therefore, the project has partnered with

the International Livestock Research

Institute(ILRI) to promote knowledge

transfer between stakeholders and to involve

policy makers from a broader scope in

creating a more consistent policy environment

to enable a sustainable use of biogas units by

smallholder livestock farmers.

Cont…