Turning invasive weed into eco-friendly cooking energy

For more than 30 years, fishermen in Lake Victoria have been scratching their heads over how to deal with water hyacinth, which has contributed to losses running into millions of shillings.

The aquatic weed is believed to have been introduced into the lake in the 1980s, by a group of people who wanted to use it as an ornamental plant in garden ponds because of its pink flowers.

But it became an invasive plant that continues to have a negative impact on the local marine ecosystem. The plant originated from South America.

In Africa, water hyacinth is said to have been first planted in Rwanda and Burundi, before being introduced into Lake Victoria from Rwanda via the Kagera River.

Water hyacinth has since spread widely across the three East African countries that share the lake.

Some of the factors favouring its growth include a lack of natural predators, an abundance of space, favourable temperature conditions and an abundance of nutrients, including increasing heavy metal pollution in the lake.

When water hyacinth covers the lake, fishing and marine transport activities cannot take place because the plant makes it difficult for water vessels to move.

Ibrahim Kasera, chairman of the Kendu Bay Beach Management Unit, says that when the lake is covered with hyacinth, fishermen see a reduction in their daily catch.

This affects the local economy and leads to loss of revenue for the county government.

“Our daily catch has reduced to less than 200 kilogrammes, which is a threat to food security.

“Most fishermen cannot go to the lake when it is covered with hyacinth,” he says.

Read: State promises to tackle the water hyacinth menace in Lake Victoria

There have also been numerous attempts to get rid of the plant in order to promote the exploration of the blue economy.

In the past, various organisations, State agencies and local governments have developed various methods to control aquatic weeds, including manual removal by hand, the use of machinery to cut the plant, and biological systems that introduce weevils into the lake to feed on the plants. However, none of these methods seem to work effectively.

But now environmental group in Rachuonyo North, Homa Bay County, seems to have found a way to deal with the aquatic weed.

Cooking fuel

The Kanyadhiang Briquettes Nyale Community-based Organisation (CBO) is turning the hyacinth into briquettes that can be used as a source of energy for cooking.

This, in turn, combats deforestation and climate change, as the use of water hyacinth to produce cooking fuel is an alternative to the use of charcoal.

A briquette is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material used as fuel and kindling for starting fires.

Different materials can be used to make the cooking material, including charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat or paper.

The group says that the water hyacinth system seems to be the best choice and is like killing three birds with one stone.

On the one hand, the group is getting rid of the aquatic weed in Lake Victoria and helping fishermen find space in the water, while at the same time the group members have a source of income when they sell the cooking fuel.

The use of water hyacinth is also an important part of environmental conservation, as the group discourages the cutting down of trees for firewood and charcoal.

The CBO has 35 members, most of them women.

Their efforts have been recognised by various organisations, which have offered to help them continue to protect the lake from invasive weeds, while also protecting the environment by producing clean cooking fuel.

The chairperson and founder of the group, Mary Adhiambo, says the CBO started in 2021.

She says the group intended to equip its members with the skills to make briquettes to use at home.

Environmentally friendly

But over the years, they embarked on a journey of mass promotion of briquettes to promote environmental conservation.

“I got skills on how to make the cooking fuel from my daughter, who is a teacher.

“She wanted me to use fuel that has less smoke and cooks for longer,” Ms Adhiambo says.

Since then, Ms Adhiambo has abandoned charcoal and is encouraging her neighbours to switch to briquettes because of their benefits.

Unlike charcoal or firewood, briquettes do not produce smoke. She says the material can also be used to cook for longer hours.

“The main advantage of briquettes is that they help in environmental conservation, especially when we use water hyacinth, which is naturally found in the lake.

“This eliminates the need to cut down trees to make charcoal,” she says.

She says the group members are are learning new skills and improving their production every day.

The group has also been supported to purchase machinery, which has made their work easier and given them a consistent product.

“Using machines ensures consistency. The cooking fuel blocks are also uniform,” the group chairperson says.

To make fuel, the group collects water hyacinth from the lake. They usually use a tuk tuk to transport the plant from the beach at Kendu Bay to the group’s office in Nyangajo village.

The plant is then placed on a flat surface to dry.

Ms Adhiambo says the water hyacinth dries for four to six days, depending on the intensity of the sun.

When the plant is dry, it changes colour from green to brown. It is the dry matter that makes up the largest component of the briquettes.

“After drying, the hyacinth is put in a metal drum and heated. We still use firewood in this process, but we have ensured the stove we use conserves energy,” Ms Adhiambo says.

When heated, the dry hyacinth turns black. If it is overheated, it turns grey and cannot be used to make briquettes.

Read: Teacher’s lessons on how to turn hyacinth into cash

As the material cools down just before it is to be used to make cooking fuel, other members of the group prepare other ingredients to make the fuel. These include cassava flour and dry leaves, which are all mixed together to make briquettes.

Ms Adhiambo explains that the flour is used as an adhesive for all the materials.

“Without the flour, the briquettes would crack when dry and fail to serve its purpose,” she says.

Until recently, the group mixed all the materials by hand. But it was tedious, and they had to ask for help to get machines.

Members of the group received support from German organisation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), which gave them a briquette-making machine.

Now the machine does some of the work the team would have done by hand.

Six kilogrammes of cassava flour, which the group buys for Sh300, can be used to make 90 kilogrammes of briquettes.

Ms Adhiambo says their production has increased since they bought the machine.

Currently, they produce at least two bags of 90 kilogrammes every Wednesday when the group meets and they sell each bag for Sh2,500.

The cooking material can also be sold in smaller quantities starting at Sh50.

Increase production

The team has also switched from using their hands to mix the materials to using shovels to speed up the process.

Ms Adhiambo says they have plans to work on several days to increase production.

The team plans to have members of the group work in shifts on days when they have other commitments.

“Our long-term plan is to have employees making the briquettes and this organisation being registered as a company,” the group chairperson says.

During a meeting in June, the team came up with a logo they will use to market their product.

Group member Denish Ochieng says the logo will be placed on branded bags that will be used to market the cooking fuel.

He says they are currently looking for a partnership with local supermarkets where the products can be delivered before being sold.

“We want to acquire a weighing scale which we will use to take measurements of what we pack and sell.

“Our goal is to make the product available in the region,” Mr Ochieng says.

The team has also reached out to schools and wants the institutions to switch from using firewood to briquettes when preparing meals for students.

Following the group’s success, several organisations that promote the use of clean energy have offered to support them.

These include the Improved Stoves Association of Kenya, which aims to revolutionise the stove business in the country.

“We have been equally recommended by the county government and have been called to exhibit our products at different events including the second International Investment Conference in February this year,” Mr Ochieng says.

The group is also sourcing solar driers to speed up production and is exploring the use of banana leaves and bagasse (dried sugar cane fibre).

Ms Adhiambo says hyacinth can be dried within hours using the heat of the sun.

“After production, briquettes take at least two weeks to dry. Solar driers can do this in hours,” she says.

Some of the organisations and institutions that have recognised Kanyadhiang Briquettes Nyale include the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) National Environment Management Authority, Homa Bay County Government, Kenya Forest Research Institute and others.

Mr Willis Omullo, an environmentalist in Homa Bay, says such innovations should be supported by the government.

Homa Bay is one of the counties with less than 10 per cent forest cover.

Mr Omullo says KFS must act now before it is too late. He wants the agency to ensure that its officers implement policies aimed at protecting forests.

“All gazetted forests should be protected. Both the county and national government should work together to protect our forests,” the environmental activist says.

He also wants the government to promote the use of green energy to reduce over-dependence on charcoal.

“We need to be prepared for disasters and prevent them before they happen.

In this case, we need to plant trees in areas where deforestation has taken place,” Mr Omullo says.

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