Co2balance and United Purpose issue Carbon Credits for 4 Borehole Projects in Malawi

After several years of collaborating on delivering safe water supply to rural communities in Malawi, Co2balance and United Purpose successfully issued the four initial projects for the second time. Covering 5 traditional authorities in Dowa and Kasungu  Disctricts, these projects have repaired and are maintaining approximately 40 boreholes in rural areas of central Malawi.

The second issuance of these projects is particularly encouraging, considering the positive feedback we received from community members during our annual monitoring surveys. Responses indicate both gratefulness for the existing work that has been done as well as a demand to conduct further repairs in order to reduce travel times and temporary queues at water sources.

Experiencing further demand in Malawi and successfully generating income streams, encourages expansion of these successful projects, which is currently under review. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more about our work in Malawi.

Successful Issuance – Rwandan Cookstove Project

It is never late to share good news: we have issued over 30,000 credits from our Rwandan cookstove projects last December! It was the second issuance for the GS1267 which was the our first project to be implemented in Rwanda. The cookstoves in that specific VPA have been operational since early 2014 and are still in use in the stove beneficiaries households. Fortunately in the past three years there was no need for stove reparation, only the replacement of the wood grates at few households, confirming the durability of the in-house designed improved cookstove.

Below are few pictures about the improved cookstoves from the most recent trip to Rwanda. More pictures from the field will come soon, stay tuned!

Expansion of the Lango ‘Safe Water Project – Part 2: Rehabilitation of New Boreholes

Co2balance as a project developer started borehole rehabilitation in the Lango sub region located in the northern part of Uganda in 2013 with the repair of 41 boreholes spread out in the districts of Alebtong, Otuke, Kole and Dokolo in a bid to provide clean safe water to these communities.

water collection from an unprotected spring

One of the old sources before rehabs

By the end of 2016, in an expansion drive, the number of boreholes rehabilitated rose to 61 with an additional 40 boreholes added in 2016 alone. This has increased access to clean safe water for many households who before the rehabilitation were using unsafe water sources like ponds, open wells among others.

Old rusty pipes to be replaced

New plastic pipes to replace old metalic pipes

In addition to the borehole rehabilitation, a Water Sanitation and Health (WASH) sensitization was carried out to educate the community on the importance of keeping their environment clean by fencing the borehole, cleaning it, keeping animals and waste away from it and above all maintaining the safe water chain from borehole to domestic storage. These good hygiene practices coupled with the clean water from these boreholes help eradicate waterborne diseases like typhoid, diarrhea, and dysentery and also reduces the risk of cholera outbreaks.

WASH sensitizations for the rehabilitated borehole

WASH training in progress

Water quality testing which is a standard procedure and requirement by the national water authorities was carried out in the rehabilitated boreholes since they have not been in use for a while. This was to ensure that the water from these boreholes meet the required standards, pass the set parameters and are suitable for human consumption. All the boreholes tested passed the tests and are therefore safe for the community.

A BIG thank you

 

Toshiba and CO2balance – partners for sustainable development

Since 2009, Toshiba TEC, a global leader in manufacturing printers and other electronic devices, has been partnering with CO2balance to deliver the Carbon Zero Scheme. Through this scheme, the company offsets the CO2 emissions caused by its production and distribution of Multi-Function Printers by supporting rural communities in Kenya to access fuel-efficient cookstoves and repairing boreholes in Uganda to ensure that communities can access safe water. The scheme has been remarkably successful, with over 430,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions prevented by the end of 2015, and we’re delighted to announce that in its current cycle, the scheme is now officially supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs were agreed in 2015 and set out an ambitious and expansive agenda to tackle the great challenges facing our planet and its people, plants and animals. Throughout 2017, case studies of people in Kenya and Uganda that are taking part in the scheme’s projects will be published on the Toshiba website, demonstrating the positive impacts for individuals in some of the poorest communities in the world. These case studies will also show how changes to the livelihoods individuals are a crucial part of the achievement of the SDGs. Several different SDGs are supported by the scheme, including:

SDG 1 (No Poverty): By supporting communities with fuel-efficient stoves or with a pure water supply that is drinkable straight from the source and does not require boiling to make it safe, the need for households to spend hours every day collecting firewood is reduced. This helps free up time for farmers like Vincent Ogwong, who can now focus on developing businesses to increase household income to invest in food and in educating his children.

SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing): Fuel-efficient stoves reduce the smoke inhalation suffered by families throughout sub-Saharan Africa by cooking on open fires in the home, thereby reducing exposure to respiratory problems.

SDG 13 (Climate Action): Introducing fuel-efficient stoves and removing the need to boil water to make it safe greatly reduces the volume of firewood burned by households, thereby reducing the resulting CO2 emissions. It is estimated that 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be prevented by the project activities in the current project cycle (April 2016-March 2018). The reduced dependence on firewood will also remove a cause of deforestation in the communities involved, ensuring that trees are preserved to sequester CO2.

We’re really excited to be involved in this scheme and to be making such a tangible contribution to these goals which are set to have such a positive impact in the coming years. You can check out the profile and details of the Toshiba Carbon Zero Scheme on the SDGs website and of course follow the CO2balance blog for regular updates!

Successful First Issuance of West Kisumu Small-scale Cookstoves Project in Kenya

This week at Co2balance we have had some good news for our improved cookstoves project in West Kisumu: it was issued for the first time since its implementation in 2011!
Over the course of the project, we distributed more than 1500 stoves to rural communities in the region. This was achieved through a collaboration with Umeme, a local women’s group that received training to manufacture the artisanal stoves from our staff in Kenya.

In addition to supporting the creation of a sustainable women-run micro business, the project has had very positive impacts in the communities, with beneficiaries reporting significant woodfuel savings, reduced levels of smoke, and a generally cleaner and safer cooking environment.

This first issuance of credits under the Gold Standard is a key milestone. We are all very happy about this achievement and hope for more positive news from West Kisumu in the near future.

 

We will keep you posted !