VICOBA Visits

Thursday, 6/21 Amelia and I attended the King'ori VICOBA meeting with Sule of EARD-CI acting as liaison and translator. After introducing ourselves we asked the ten women present a few questions and collected some of their locally available biomass, namely dead corn leaves. They are interested in briquetting as a way to save money on their considerable fuel expenditures as well as conserve the environment by using waste materials. They reiterated the cost of 6,000 TZS per week for firewood reported by DHE's 12S trip. They indicated an average weekly income of 20,000 shillings.  Using this figure to estimate labor cost and following the Legacy Foundation's recommendations to price briquettes fifteen percent above labor cost, as well as their assumptions of 750 briquettes produced and 15 used per day, using briquettes for cooking would theoretically cost under 100 TZS per day versus 860 TZS per day currently spent on firewood. Given that all ten women are interested in the technology and said they would be willing to contribute 2-3 hours daily to briquette making, the production estimate, based on a team of six, is reasonable. The use estimate, based on a family size of 6, would have to be adjusted given an accurate survey of family size in the region as well as the specific burn characteristics of the local briquettes.

Monday, 6/25, we visited the Lulu VICOBA in the community of Nkoarisombo with Naomie and Faraja of EARD-CI. Immediately upon entering the meeting, we could see that they had constructed their own compound lever press. The press cost 60,000 TZS, approximately 40 USD. We inquired about the progress of their material processing, learning that they had begun collecting paper, sawdust, and banana leaf and composting these materials for use in a briquette mixture. They offered to show us their compost pile at their meeting next Monday. The community grows bananas, coffee, corn, and beans, offering a wide variety of organic matter available at differing times throughout the year. They stated 10,000 TZS per week as the income of the low-income families within the VICOBA, although this is certainly not average, as the spring group reported fuel expenditures of 14,000 TZS weekly. While income figures remain unclear, the higher fuel costs mean that this VICOBA would see an even greater economic benefit from replacing firewood with fuel briquettes than King'ori. The group indicated they want to meet for one two hour session weekly for briquette making, essentially as an extension of their existing meeting. This hardly seems like enough time to make a substantial amount of briquettes, but their actions to organize materials and build the production apparatus suggest a group that is highly motivated to initiate a briquetting project.

We were unable to meet with the Bonderi VICOBA due to internal problems. The persistence of such problems makes it a difficult and unlikely place for us to continue our work.

-Nik