Blog Classic - CIDES Green Technologies

Beyond Technology: How Training in Kitui Ignited Community-Led Sustainability

September 23, 2025 CIDESgreen No Comments

In Kitui County, interest in biogas and regenerative farming had been rising, but too often potential was lost for lack of expertise. Systems would be installed, then underutilized; bioslurry would pile up unused; youth had little access to green skills; women didn’t always know how to incorporate sustainable practices in home gardens. Without capacity, technology alone couldn’t deliver.

Biogas digesters poorly maintained, malfunctioning.
Households paying for fertilizers while ignoring that bioslurry could replace them.
Youth unemployment high in rural areas; little opportunity to learn technical green skills.
Women’s agricultural potential under-leveraged in household food security.

Structured, Hands-On Training Program

Responding to demand, CIDESgreen launched a capacity development initiative. Key elements:

Awareness Campaigns: Educating farmers, women, youth about biogas, bioslurry, and regenerative agriculture.
Demonstration Farms: Live digesters, kitchen gardens using bioslurry, field trials to show yield differences.
Technical Training for Artisans: How to build, maintain, repair biogas systems; piping; dome masonry; safety protocols.
Women-Centric Modules: Incorporation of bioslurry in kitchen gardens; nutritional crops; household budgeting with savings from fuel and fertilizer.

Implementation Process

Month 1: Mobilization and community meetings; baseline survey to record households’ energy and fertilizer expenditure, awareness levels.
Month 2–3: Conduct training sessions; spread across several zones in Kitui for accessibility.
Month 4: Apprenticeships and hands-on work; new artisans practice installations in real settings.
Month 5: Follow-up monitoring and support; feedback loops to fix technical issues or usage mistakes.

Results & Measurable Impact

Increased Yields: Farmers switching to bioslurry saw 30–40% higher crop yields, especially in maize/vegetables.
Cost Reductions: Fuel, fertilizer, and chemical input costs dropped substantially.
Job Creation: Dozens of youth certified as biogas artisans; several now earning income by performing installations or repairs.
Women Empowered: Kitchen gardens with organic inputs produced food for household nutrition and surplus for income.
Behavioral Change: Communities developed maintenance culture; gas digesters tended regularly; bioslurry used properly; waste utilized rather than ignored.

There was joy in discovery — when farmers tasted vegetables grown with bioslurry, when youth saw their own hands build a gas dome, when women harvested produce from their gardens. Not invisible benefit, but visible change: healthier bodies, cleaner air, fuller plates, families working with pride.

This program delivers multiplier effects: one trained artisan serves multiple households; one kitchen garden feeds many; savings from inputs go back into community. The model is cost-effective, scalable, and holistically addresses environment + food security + economic growth. It builds local capacity so CIDES’ projects aren’t one-offs but sustained.

Bioseptic

From Stench to Sustainment: Murang’a Bioseptic Systems Pave a New Path for Sanitation

September 23, 2025 CIDESgreen No Comments

In many, compounds, traditional septic tanks have long been a burden. Overflow problems, foul smells, frequent exhauster calls, high costs, and water that goes to waste rather than being reused are common. For many households, the cost of maintaining septic systems eats into limited incomes, and the surroundings suffer from sanitation issues.

Most households faces:

Constant expense on exhauster services (often in thousands every few months).
Odors and hygiene concerns that affected quality of life.
Wasted wastewater that could have irrigated gardens or trees.
Sanitation systems that were bulky, expensive, hard to maintain, and often mismanaged.

Compact Bioseptic System Deployment

On approaching CIDESgreen for a better solution our team:

Conducts site and soil surveys to assess drainage and space.
Designs a bioseptic system that biologically treats waste using enzymes, reducing smell, eliminating frequent exhausters, and producing clean, reusable water.
Builts a compact biodigester chamber, connects kitchen and toilet wastewater to it, and installs soak-away pits/outlets.
Trains the household members on applying biological starter enzymes, maintaining flow, and using treated water safely.

Implementation Process

Day 1–2: Site evaluation, chamber design optimized for space.
Day 3–6: Construction of biodigester, plumbing, soak-away pits.
Day 7: Testing, enzyme application, safety checks.
Day 8: Training (household-day maintenance routines, safe reuse of water).

Results & Measurable Impact

Cost Savings: Exhauster services eliminated—saving households tens of thousands of KSh per year.
Health & Hygiene: Odors eliminated; compounds cleaned up; fewer insect pests.
Resource Reuse: Treated water reused for irrigating gardens, fruit trees, lawns, reducing water bills and boosting greenery.
Space Efficiency: Compact design fits in small plots; minimal footprint.
Emotional Relief: Families report pride in their gardens, comfort in clean surroundings, dignity in a system that works reliably.

The relief is real—financially and personally.

Investing in bioseptic systems isn’t just sanitation—it’s matched gains in health, environment, water security, and household savings. It’s scalable in densely populated zones where traditional septic systems are impractical. And the model shows strong ROI in wellbeing, maintenance cost reduction, and environmental protection.

Biogas

Breaking the Smoke: How Biogas in Kibwezi Is Fueling Health, Savings, and Growth

September 23, 2025 CIDESgreen No Comments

Kibwezi is a region where fuel scarcity, high costs, and health challenges converge. Imagine kitchens filled with choking smoke from firewood and charcoal, women’s eyes watering every time they cook, children coughing through the night. Some families spend thousands of shillings every month just buying charcoal or LPG, money that could otherwise go toward school fees or seeds. At the same time, dairy cows generate daily manure which often lies unused—leaking nutrients, creating odor, and inviting disease vectors.

Challenge Before Intervention

A typical household in Kibwezi struggled with:

Fuel costs that kept rising, cutting into household budgets.
Smoke-related health issues—especially among women and young children.
Time lost collecting firewood, often several hours per week.
Under-performance in farming: soils declining in fertility; livestock fodder needing expensive external inputs.

Biogas Installation & Support

CIDES Green stepped in when a family reached out seeking relief. They conducted a thorough needs assessment including:

Livestock and manure assessment: Enough cow dung to support a 6m³ digester.
Energy needs survey: Daily cooking, occasional heating, and pumping water.
Site evaluation: Adequate space, proximity to kitchen, safety.

Then, CIDES designed a fixed-dome masonry biogas system suited to local conditions, connected pipelines to the kitchen, and trained household members in:

Feeding the digester daily (proper dung-to-water ratio)
Monitoring gas flow and pressure
Safe use of biogas stove and piping
Leveraging bioslurry (the nutrient-rich by-product) on fields and fodder

Implementation Process

Week 1: Groundbreaking, excavation, and foundation laid.
Week 2: Construction of dome and chambers, piping.
Week 3: Installation of biogas stove, system testing.
Week 4: Training and commissioning.

CIDES provided technical oversight, quality assurance, and ensured safety protocols were followed.

Results & Measurable Impact

Fuel Cost Reduction: Household saved up to 70% of previous monthly fuel expenses. What was spent on charcoal/LPG dropped significantly.
Health Improvement: Indoor air quality improved dramatically; reports of respiratory issues declined.
Time Saved: Hours previously spent gathering fuel redirected toward farming, family, or income-generating tasks.
Agricultural Gains: Fields fertilized with bioslurry saw maize yields increase by ~30%; fodder crops improved, milk productivity rose.
Environmental Impact: Less firewood usage contributes to forest conservation; reduced greenhouse gas emissions from open manure pits and burning charcoal.

There was a moment when the mother lit the biogas stove for the first time—no smoke, just a clean flame. It was more than cooking; it felt like reclaiming dignity. Neighbors came over, curious. Children stopped coughing. The family felt empowered—they had turned what was once waste (manure) into energy, into fertilizer, into savings and health.

Message to Investors & Donors

This kind of biogas project delivers triple win returns: social (health, time), environmental (emissions reduction, forest protection), economic (cost savings, improved farm output). It scales too—once one household demonstrates success, others follow. The model shows viability, replicability, and measurable impact