With an approximated of about 50 million people, 41 percent of Kenyans still rely on unimproved water sources, such as ponds, shallow wells and rivers, while 59 percent of Kenyans use unimproved sanitation solutions. These challenges are especially evident in the rural areas and the urban slums. Due to this acute access to safe water challenge many development organizations for years have sunk many boreholes in… Read the full article >
CO2balance Keeping its ears on the Ground in Kenya
In any project implementation it is important from the onset to engage the local community to understand their interests, beliefs, social networks etc. For any organization to implement a project well it requires to put its ears on the ground to listen to stakeholders and thus gather enough knowledge about local context and the local… Read the full article >
Turning the tide in Africa’s 5000-year fight against desertification
Did you know that the Sahara Desert used to be green? The vast expanse of dusty desert and blistering sand was, 9000 years ago, a lush green savannah. This period was known as the ‘Neolithic Subpluvial’, a time of mega-lakes surrounded by grasslands and wildebeest and early human settlements[1]. Then, about 5000 years ago, the… Read the full article >
VCS Issuance Kenya Cookstoves 2018!
This year, CO2balance have successfully issued over 30,000 VERs under VCS (now Verra). This applies to efficient cookstove projects in Kenya located in the constituencies of Mathira, Eldoret East, and Keiyo district. The issuance comes 7 years after the initial distribution of cookstoves in these areas. Among the stoves that were distributed was the Carbon… Read the full article >
Kenya Boreholes Project: Local Stakeholder Consultation
At the end of October, I travelled to Kenya to host a local stakeholder meeting for new borehole projects located on the coast in Kilifi County. The coastal county is largely rural and is frequented by tourists during the dry seasons for its white sandy beaches stretching 265km along the Kenyan coastline. Its main economic… Read the full article >
Final Kenya Cookstove Verification and CSR Project Visit
In April I travelled to Kenya to visit three cookstove projects that we have in the counties of Meru, Mathira and Eldoret with the CarbonZero Kenya team. In addition, I also went to see two CSR projects that co2balance are implementing for a client in the Aberdare’s county which will involve the restoration of community… Read the full article >
Impacting Lives in Maungu
In the Coastal region of Kenya in Shimba hills Carbon zero has distributed over 10,000 energy efficient cook stoves. The stove beneficiaries highly appreciate the many social, health and economic impact that the stoves have had in their lives. The stoves have also led to the protection of the Shimba hills forest that was under… Read the full article >
Sadly Women are Primary Woodfuel Collectors
Cooking is a very simple art but with far reaching effects to millions of people under the sun. It is estimated that globally more than three billion people currently rely on solid fuels. Most of this wood is collected from forests. Worst of all is that in Africa, burden of wood fuel collection still lies… Read the full article >
Transforming Rural Livelihoods
The Carbon Zero Kenya Aberdares ICS project started in the year 2011, with 10,200 stoves being distributed. Since then company invested in community awaress creation that so locals embrace the use the ICS thus moving from using 3-stone stoves (traditional stoves) to carbon zero improved cook stoves. Speaking to various stove beneficiaries the Carbon Zero… Read the full article >
Giving Power to Rural Women
With the support of Australian High Commission in Kenya in the 2015 Carbon Zero Kenya partnered with a women group (Umeme women group) in Western Kenya in Kisumu West to produce 900 cook stoves and sell them within the community. The women were empowered with skills in stove production and marketing. The aim of the… Read the full article >
It’s from the Kitchen that Good Health Starts
A huge population across the world especially in the developing world depends on traditional three stone fires for cooking. This primitive form of cooking negatively impacts the health of people using the stove and the well being of the natural environment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cooking over traditional open fires can cause… Read the full article >
Protecting Forests is Vital; without them, Kenya would be little more than a desert
Forests influence climate, landform and soil composition and they exist in a wide variety. Each forest type has its own uniqueness and together these forests complement one another and perform the various socio-economic, ecological, environmental, cultural and spiritual functions. Forests remain vital sources livelihood and water to many people across the globe. East Africa’s forests… Read the full article >