Kenya briquette manufacturers association to hold first general meeting July 23rd

New Carbonized Briquette Producer Association Created in Kenya

East Africa, and Kenya in particular, is struggling to figure out how to supply households and businesses with charcoal in a way that does not adversely impact the pocketbook of consumers and the health of the country’s remaining forests.

Kenyan legislators, government agency administrators, and the international donor community concerned about drought and deforestation across the country and the region have overlooked a simple, yet cost-effective, and, more importantly, sustainable solution: char briquettes. Char briquettes make a good charcoal substitute and can be made of various types of carbonized biomass, including discarded agricultural waste, charcoal dust, and even sanitized human waste.

An unknown number of briquetting businesses operate successfully across Kenya and on Tuesday, July 23^rd, producers will have a chance to come together in Nairobi to participate in Kenya’s first national briquetters association called the United Briquette Producers Association (UBPA).

The event is open to producers and special guests. The event will take place from 9am to 3pm in Nairobi. Producers must first register and pay their annual membership dues in order to participate.

The desired outcomes of the event are to:

1. Gain an up-to-date understanding of the charcoal and briquette market and their potential across Kenya
2. Identify the opportunities and obstacles to the scaling-up of briquette businesses
3. Establish the officers and committees of UBPA
4. Determine subcommittees and their leadership
5. Set general direction for the organization
6. Next steps

Special guest speaker will be Eng.Stephen Nzioka, Director of Waste to Energy at the Kenya Ministry of Energy. Mr. Nzioka will discuss recent trends in waste to energy in Kenya.

About UBPA

UBPA is the outcome of a conference on char briquetting held in Kenya in October 2018. The meeting, called the Advancing Sustainable cHarcoal Enterprises at Scale (AScHES), was held under the auspices of US-based D-Lab (MIT) and The Charcoal Project (a non-profit). The event gathered briquette producers from around the world, especially East Africa. Both entities share the goal of supporting the expansion and replication of briquetting businesses in East Africa and the rest of the continent by supporting technical, financial, and policy innovations.

For more info on joining UBPA, please contact Jairus Omwanza, ubpakenya@gmail.com