Renewable Energy For Change - Guinea-Bissau
The project Farmers’ Clubs Renewable Energy in Oio introduced a new focus on renewable energy activities (solar and biofuel energy) to the previous agriculture projects implemented by ADPP Guinea-Bissau in the country. Renewable energy is promoted in this project as a vehicle to increase agricultural production (through water pumps powered by renewable sources).
The project operated in 24 communities of Bissorã where 14.274 people live, benefitting directly 2.600 small-scale farmers and their families. A total of 52 Farmers’ Clubs (with 50 members in each Club) were established with a common horticulture plan, where the farmers can apply their new knowledge, received through trainings lead by the project leader.
The project installed a total of 39 solar water pump systems and photovoltaic systems for the electrification of 51 institutions: 11 schools, 7 health centers, 9 mosques and 24 community centers that were equipped in 2014 with LED televisions, satellite antenna and DVD players and where are held literacy sessions for adults, preschools, and training sessions for clubs’ members, cultural events and different TV programs shows. The project also built 7 processing centers equipped with 8 generators adapted to work with biofuel, as well as 6 rice peeler machines, 4 corn milling machines, 7 almond butter making machines, 7 manual presses to produce cooking oil, 1 Jatropha oil extraction machine. 15 out of the 39 solar water pumps systems are distributing water in the horticultural fields, 15 systems are distributing drinking water and the remaining 9 are simultaneously distributing water in the horticultural fields and drinking water.
At the end of the Project and to ensure its sustainability, plans for micro-credit funding were established in order to promote the acceptance of farmers’ renewable energies systems within the associations and 8 trainings about renewable energies for income-generation were held.
All this led to highly boosted intervention area, achieving:
- Farmers’ medium income increase by 159%, due to the increase of agricultural production (an average of 104%) and the introduction of income-generating activities
- Availability of drinking water sufficient per capita/ per day, as well as 12-16m3 per day/ per community for irrigation
- An amount of 136.424kg of processed products in the processing centers
- Establishment of various income-generating activities
- 14 jobs directly created in the 7 processing centers, and 509 jobs indirectly created through the project staff and the service provider entities hiring
- Train, create awareness and mobilize the 12.686 people in different events related to the environmental impact, the reforestation, the global warming and the renewable energies sources,
- 18.657,60 kwh/year of photovoltaic energy provided to the 51 facilities.
Participation at the EU Development Days 2017
ADPP Guinea-Bissau was invited to partake in the EU Development Days in Brussels in June 2017. The project manager, Mr. Tembo Pilirani, was presenting the project, which was developed in partnership with the European Union, at the stand in the Global Village of the EDD 2017. The stand was showcasing the methodology and the results from the Energy Facility project that had been implemented in Guinea-Bissau. Mr. Pilirani made a short presentation in the project pitches session on the first day of the event.
Representatives from ADPP Guinea-Bissau and colleagues from the Federation Humana People to People participated in the events taking place in Brussels, taking part in the many debates about the future of sustainable development in the ACP countries. With the aim of building strong partnerships for development, many new contacts were made and new ideas were gathered at the event. The objective is to expand and replicate the successful Energy Facility project to other regions of Guinea-Bissau, ultimately aiming to reach all rural populations with access to sustainable energy.
Watch here the video about the project.
Listen here the coordinator of the Farmers’ Clubs Renewable Energy project podcast interview (only available in Portuguese).