Weaving Together: Bioenergy circular approach
Njenga M, Mendum R, Gitau JK, Gebrezgabher S, Baral H, Kozyatnyk I, Sundberg C.
*Email: m.njenga@cgiar.org
Delivering a forest-based circular bio-economy 10th December 2020

Resource recovery and reuse (RRR) in refugee
settlements in Africa
• Piloting and scaling up locally viable
and gender-responsive circular
economy-based solutions developed
by CGIAR for increased food and
energy security and sustainable socio-
ecological systems in refugee
settlements and host communities
• Implemented in six refugee settlements
and their host communities in Ethiopia,
Kenya and Uganda
Focusing on:
-Recovering cooking energy and water
and nutrients for home gardening using
gender-responsive solutions
-Knowledge dissemination and capacity
development for 3600 people
-Piloting
-Scaling to 200,000 people
Name of organization Role of partner
Coordination and technical advice
International Water Management
Institute (IWMI)
Project leader
Developing adaptable RRR
business models
World Agroforestry (ICRAF) Project co-leader: Developing
energy and agroforestry
solutions
International Center for Tropical
Agriculture (CIAT)
Improving soil fertility and Land
conservation
Capacity development and pilot implementation
Adventist Development and Relief
Agency (ADRA), Ethiopia
Capacity development and pilot
implementation in Ethiopia
Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Kenya
and Uganda
Capacity development and pilot
implementation in Kenya and
Uganda
Technical backstopping
Office of International Programs,
College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn
State University (PSU)
Gender integration
Department of Soil and Water
Resources Management, Wollo
University, Ethiopia
Coordinate project activities in
Ethiopia and nutrition
characterizing of crops
Dr. Andrew Adam-Bradford, Urban
agriculture expert
Capacity building in home
gardening, backstop in all
countries
Upscaling and stakeholder dialogue
International humanitarian aid and
donor community (United Nations
High Commission for Refugees
[UNHCR], UN-Habitat)
Adoption of project outcomes
for further outreach
Project website: http://rrr-refugee.iwmi.org/
Podcast:
https://forestsnews.cifor.org/66077/why-the-energy-
and-food-nexus-is-critical-in-refugee-context?fnl=en
Energy-food-water nexus

Biochar: A Win4Resilient Landscapes
Parameter Results: Sundberg et al., 2020; Gitau et al., 2019
Uptake >80% of households used the gasifier after 2-3 months
Biochar produced per cooking 193 g per cooking
Biochar production per household after about 3 months of stove use 1-20 kg produced
Application rate was 1-10t/ha based on what farmers produced
Carbon monoxide (CO) concentration in kitchen when cooking Reduced by 73%
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration in kitchen when cooking Reduced by 90%
Crop yield: kale Increased by 33%
Crop yield: maize Increases from 0.9 to 4.4 Mg/ha reported.
Carbon sequestration Life cycle assessment (LCA): Net negative carbon dioxide
emission in case of sustainable biomass production
Njenga et al., 2020:Policy brief
http://apps.worldagroforestry.org/downlo
ads/Publications/PDFS/PB20040.pdf
150 small-
scale
farmers in
the
highland,
medium
lowland
and
coastal
regions in
Kenya
between
2016-2020
Other on-farm biochar production techniques
Photos: Njenga and Lelei/ICRAF
Project website:
www.biochar.abe.kth.se
Energy-food nexus

Biochar modified with Moringa oleifera proteins for water treatment
Main goal of the project: To develop low-cost methods for
greywater treatment from organic pollutants and heavy metals.
Novelty
• Use of biochar from locally available sources and modify them
with active ingredients of Moringa oleifera seeds for greywater
and contaminated drinking water treatment from organic
pollutants and heavy metals.
• Use of locally available simple home utensils and biochar will
be prepared in small-scale gasifier cooking stoves already
tested and being used by small holder farmers in Kenya.
2021-2022
Energy-food-water nexus

Urban household use: Energy 14-28kJ/g, income, 9 and 15 times cheaper than lump charcoal and kerosene respectively, burn for 4
hrs Vs 2.5 of lump charcoal, 3 times lower CO and 8 times lower PM2.5 than lump charcoal (charcoal dust+soil ). Njenga et al., 2013
Large-scale sawdust briquette
production, 10t/day by Kings
Biofuels, Kenya
Energy recovery from wood residues
Charcoal dust+soil
Charcoal dust Charcoal briquettes
Briquette reduce cost of energy in tea
processing by 25% in 50:50 firewood:
briquette and 50% on briquettes alone
Replication in Ghana 2016-2021: For fish smoking,
batik production, Photos: IWMI and DRC
Kenya: Briquette Producer Association of Kenya (UBPA),
Draft charcoal briquette standards, Bioenergy strategy
2020-2027

RESTORING LANDSCAPES FOR BIO-ENERGY, BIOMATERIALS AND ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES IN INDONESIA
$
Results
Private and public
investments
Actions and
inputs
Outputs,
co-benefits
Impacts
4-R approach, right tree
on right landscape…
$
Intl./national
goals and
commitments
• Spatial estimation, bioenergy species
suitability and landowner species
preferences for sustainable biomass
production on degraded and
underutilized land
• Demonstrated opportunities to restore
degraded land while producing bioenergy
(and foods) using climate smart
agroforestry for food and energy security
in rural and isolated locations and
greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
• The next step is to scale up business
cases from current pilot projects through
public-private-partnership
Email contact: H.Baral@cgiar.org
Publications:
https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/articles/AJaung1801.pdf
https://www.cifor.org/knowledge/publication/7129/