IFAD Biogas support Mission in Rwanda

i

IFAD

BIOGAS SUPPORT MISSION

Rwanda

Consultant: Gerard Hendriksen

November 2011

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IFAD biogas report Nov11 i

Table of Contents

1. Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1

2. National Domestic Biogas Programme in Rwanda.......................................................................... 2

2.1 Background ....................................................................................................................................... 2

2.2 NDBP Activities ................................................................................................................................. 2

2.3 Construction of digesters................................................................................................................... 3

3. Kirehe district ....................................................................................................................................... 6

3.1 Number of digesters constructed ....................................................................................................... 6

3.2 District performance plan ................................................................................................................. 7

3.3 Construction companies .................................................................................................................... 8

3.4 Banque Populaire of Rwanda ........................................................................................................... 8

3.5 Awareness and promotion ................................................................................................................. 9

4. KWAMP support to Biogas ................................................................................................................ 9

5. Way forward ....................................................................................................................................... 11

6. Estimated budget ................................................................................................................................ 12

List of tables Table 1: Targets and number of digesters constructed in 2010 and 2011

Table 2: Overall status of the program

Table 3: Digesters Constructed in Kirehe district per sector.

Table 4: Kirehe Districts Performance Plan

Table 5: Number of cattle in Kirehe district per sector.

Table 6: Targets for new digesters per year

Table 7: Estimated budget for biogas sector

Annexes

Annex 1: Documentation consulted

Annex 2: Persons consulted during the mission

Annex 3: ToR Biogas Field Technician

Annex 4: Bill of Quantities and average costs of biogas digester of 6 mtr3 Annex

Annex 5: Photographs of Chinese and masonry digesters

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IFAD biogas report Nov11 1

1. Background

Introduction

KWAMP is an agricultural investment project implemented by MINAGRI, co-financed

by IFAD, WFP and the Government of Rwanda. It became effective on 30 April 2009,

and is due for completion in June 2016. Its overall objective is the development of

sustainable profitable small-scale commercial agriculture in Kirehe District. The total

cost of the project is estimated at USD 49.3 million. The current IFAD grant

commitment amounts to USD 26.77 million. It operates in Kirehe district and aims at

reaching 22 500 direct and 10 000 indirect beneficiaries.

One of KWAMP’s outputs focuses on increased efficiency in livestock production and

includes the use of biogas to reduce consumption of fire wood. The project’s logframe

calls for the installation and operation of 1500 digesters in the district. So far

KWAMP’s activities in biogas have hardly started. Instead biogas was introduced in the

Kirehe district through the national biogas program implemented by the energy sector

of the Ministry of Infrastructure.

IFAD is planning a Project for Pro-poor Uplifting of the Service Economy

(PROPULSE) that would build on achievements in the agricultural and livestock sectors

to link Rwanda’s rural economy to its overall growth. It would focus on strengthening

rural economic activities, especially private services including input and output markets

and rural finance.

Terms of Reference

The consultant was requested to refine the plans by KWAMP to support the introduction

of household biogas digesters in Kirehe dictrict, which is also a prospective area of the

PROPULSE program. Specific responsibilities include:

1. Review the progress of the SNV biogas programme;

2. Review the concrete biogas plans by KWAMP;

3. Prepare a model investment plan for a small-scale biogas digester;

4. Propose a practical support arrangement for KWAMP to determine eligible

households for participating, the support provided consistent with other national

programmes, the roles and responsibilities for the district and the project staff,

M&E arrangements, training requirements, and the role of a possible service

provider; and

5. Prepare the draft Terms of Reference for a possible service provider.

Report overview

Chapter 2 of the report describes the National Domestic Biogas Program which has

introduced and disseminated domestic biogas since 2007. Chapter 3 focuses on the

situation in Kirehe district while chapter 4 highlights the biogas objectives and that were

programmed in the KWAMP program. The way forward has been described in chapter

5 and the report concludes with an estimated budget for the planned activities to support

the development of the market for biogas.

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2. National Domestic Biogas Programme in Rwanda

2.1 Background

MININFRA with technical assistance from SNV, the Netherlands Development

Organisation and funding from GTZ started the National Domestic Biogas Program

(NDBP). SNV has long experience in Nepal and other Asian countries with biogas

and an important reason for choosing Rwanda as the first country Africa, was the

high number of households owning 2 -3 dairy cows under zero grazing conditions.

The initial target of the project was 15,000 digesters by 2011 but this figure proved far

too high for the program. At this point in time less than 2000 digesters have been

completed.

The NDBP is implemented through MININFRA Energy Sector and SNV is providing

technical assistance. Up till mid 2011 the program was based in the Ministry’s offices

but after the restructuring and the establishment of EWASA (Energy, Water and

Sanitation Agency), all development projects moved to a new location in Remera.

The program has been funded by the GIZ which has since 2008 supported the program

costs and 75% of the subsidy paid the farmers. The Government provides the remaining

25% of the subsidy. The current support of GIZ is being negotiated but in the meantime

the Government has fully integrated the program in the Ministry’s annual planning and

the MTEF and funding is secured for the financial year 2011/12 and expected to be

continuing thereafter.

NDBP has 22 staff employed by EWASA, 16 of them field staff placed in districts

(although currently only 11 positions are filled). The technicians are equipped with a

motor cycle for transport to facilitate the visits the farmers, attend promotion activities

and carry out quality control of digesters constructed by the private contractors.

2.2 NDBP Activities

The main activities of the program can be summarised as follows:

1) Promotion to create awareness through

workshops and meetings with local authorities

mass media campaigns (radio, TV, print, billboards, posters etc

NGOs such as LWF, Heifer, EADD, Vi-Life as well as the BPR.

2) Training focussing on contractors, masons, plumbers. NDBP works together

with technical colleges in Kigali and the regions to support these trainings. In

total over 300 masons and plumbers have attended these theoretical and practical

programs (although not all have stayed in the biogas business thereafter). By

2011 the program had over 50 companies who are active in the market. In each

district there is at least one active company which is officially accredited by the

program. .

3) Training of farmers and users through the contractor as part of his contract and

following the completion of each digester. The program retains the final payment

for 12 months..

4) Quality control of the biogas construction in the field by the field technicians.

At least three visits are planned as follows:

When the construction of the dome (and masonry works) is completed

When the plumbing is completed and the stove is functioning

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After one year the guaranty period of 12 months

Poor performing contractors are initially requested to improve their records and

correct their mistakes. If they do not comply, they are removed from the program

5) Provision of subsidy; for each completed digester that complies with the

standards of the program, an investment subsidy is paid of Rwf 300,000 (this is

about 35% of the average investment costs)

6) Collaboration with the Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR): a special credit

line ahs been developed with the BPR which can give up top Rwf 300,000 loan

for a digester constructed under the program.

7) Monitoring of the progress and maintaining of a national data base of the units

completed and under construction.

2.3 Construction of digesters

2.3.1 Construction costs, government subsidy and bank credit

Construction costs

The NDBP promotes a biogas digester constructed out of locally available materials,

stones, gravel, sand, cement and the necessary hardware. Sizes vary from 4 – 12 m3

depending on the number of cows and the household requirements. The most popular

model remains the digester of the 6 mtr3 which normally fits a family with 2 -3 cows and

4 – 6 members. Annex 4 provides a typical bill of quantity and the estimated costs of a 6

m3 digester. The actual construction costs of the digester depends on the location the

costs of the materials and labour and is usually between Rwf 700,00 and 900,000. Over

the last year, the program is testing different options to further reduce the costs while

maintaining a minimum quality. However, costs remain relatively high as compared to

other countries in the region. The price of cement is an important factor as it is the single

biggest item in the construction. SNV is currently testing the use of Interlocking

Stabilised Soil Bricks in different countries in Africa as a possibility to reduce the

consumption of cement and reduce the overall costs by 20 – 25%.

Subsidy

NDBP provides an investment subsidy of Rwf 300,000 for each digester that is

constructed by a trained and accredited contractor and meets the quality standards. The

subsidy is equal for all digester size as it is expected that households that are opting for

larger digesters, will have the extra means to pay for the extra costs themselves.

The subsidy is disbursed to the contractors in 3 trances depending on the advance made

during construction. Before any payments are made, the farmer and the field technician

have to approve the claim. The subsidy is paid either through the Ministry’s account (an

since mid this year through EWASA) or paid by the Banque Populaire (BPR) on behalf

of the program for those households which have been provided with a loan.

Bank Credit

In May 2009, MININFRA signed an Agreement with BPR setting out the

collaboration between Ministry and the Bank in the provision of biogas credit to

households. Farmers applying for the loan are screened by the program to see if they

meet the technical conditions (such as number of animals, stable, location, availability

of the building materials such as sand, stones etc) and by BPR to check their credit

worthiness. The maximum bank loan is Rwf 300,000 for any size of digester although

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there have been negotiations to increase this amount for farmers who want bigger

systems.

Once the bank loan is approved, the BPR disburses both the Government subsidy

(which is held in a special account at the bank on behalf of MINIFRA) as well as the

credit, to the contractor’s account according to the progress of the work. Normally this

is done in 4 steps:

a. Rwf 300,000 at the start of the contract

b. Rwf 150,000 after completion of the dome

c. Rwf 135,000 after completing the installation

d. Rwf 15,000 guarantee money that will be paid after one year

The field technicians of NDBP are responsible for inspecting the works and signing

the completion forms at each step before the bank will proceed with payments.

Carbon credits

Following the experience of SNV in Asia countries, the Rwandan National Domestic

Biogas has been working on a program to take advantage of the reduction in carbon

emissions. A proposal was developed together for HIVOS (Humanist Institute for

Development Cooperation) from the Netherlands which has been supporting biogas

programs in Asia and Africa since many years. HIVOS offered to buy the carbon

emissions through the voluntary market for a period of 10 years for the first 2000

completed digesters. A first validation survey was carried out in 2009. The Contract

with HIVOS is unfortunately not yet finalised and is currently scrutinised by the

Rwandan Development Board.

2.3.2 Progress of National Domestic Biogas Program

Pilot Phase

MININFRA funded the construction of pilot biogas digesters in 2007 /8 of 100 digesters

after the completion of the first training in four districts close to Kigali. For these

digesters, farmers’ contribution was only about Rwf 200,000 while the remaining costs

were supported by the Ministry. These pilot digesters were constructed in four districts

surrounding Kigali city to facilitate close supervision.

.

Fibre glass program

During the pilot phase, MININFRA decided in 2007 to test prefabricated Fibre Glass

Digesters (FGD) made in China. The expectations were to reduce the construction time

and to minimize quality assurance issues. MININFRA imported 100 FGDs of 6 mtr3

each early 2008 and these came together with all the necessary tools and accessories

from China where the technology has been used for a number of years. In addition, team

of Chinese experts came to Rwanda for 2 months to train technicians and to install the

first 10 units in Kirehe district which was the area selected by the Ministry. In total 76

digesters were completed and all these were installed in Kirehe and neighbouring Ngoma

district.

A comparative study has been carried out in Sept 2009 and it was found that the FGDs

were performing well but that their overall costs and construction time did not favour the

continuation of the import of pre fabricated digesters. Since then the program has fully

focused on the construction of the masonry type of digesters the so-called modified GCC

models. Unfortunalty, at a later stage in 2010/11, the fibre glass digesters started to

show problems and most were reported no longer functioning during the time of the

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mission. NDBP has sent its senior technician who introduced a simple modification

which seems to address the problem as discussed in the next chapter of this report.

Number of digesters completed

The NDBP is now operating in all 30 districts in the country although there are wide

differences in the uptake of the technology. Progress in construction has been much

slower than was anticipated in the original project document which asked for 15,000

digesters within a period of 4 years. The table 1 below shows the construction targets

and the realisations on a monthly basis for the past two years. These data are provided by

the program and entered on the website http://sites.google.com/site/biogas4all/home

which shows the performance of the other 8 African countries where SNV is now

implementing a biogas program. Among those, Kenya is the leader with a target of 2,200

digesters for 2011 and it is likely to exceed this figure by end of the year.

The monthly production figures in Rwanda show big variations over the year. The

variations maybe attributed to seasonal influences as well as organisational issues.

Table 1: Targets and number of digesters constructed in 2010 and 2011

Ja

n

Feb

Ma

r

Ap

ril

Ma

y

Ju

n

Ju

ly

Au

g

Sep

t

Oct

No

v

Dec

To

tal

Year 2010

Target 25 35 40 47 48 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 1035

Completed 57 44 13 37 48 60 82 83 52 43 45 63 627

target

Year 2011

Target 65 80 80 90 100 105 105 105 110 120 120 120 1200

Completed 33 50 81 65 82 84 79 80 43 73 670

Table 2: Overall status of the program

Information Status up to

September 2011

Number of biogas installations

installed in the country

1, 592

Of which: Number of Chinese

digesters

76

Bank loans provided by BPR 328

Numbers of biogas installations

under construction

45

Program working in 22 districts

2.3.3 Decentralisation of activities

Over the past years there have been discussions within the NDBP team on how to

involve other partners in the program and how further involve the districts in line with

the District Performance Plans.

http://sites.google.com/site/biogas4all/home

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This issue has been discussed in the project Steering Committee but was not further

developed due to a lack of resources. The districts do include domestic biogas in their

annual performance plans and the mayors of the districts signed a performance

contract with the President of the Republic. In the year 2009/10 the total target was

1,139 in all the 30 districts but only 586 were recorded as completed in the contracts.

For the year 2010/11, the mayors seem to have been more cautious and they have set a

much lower target of 544 digesters. A number of districts have not even mentioned

biogas in their annual contract.

Although the program increased the number of field technicians from 5 to 16 in

October last year, this is still not enough to cover every district. Ideally each district

would have its own technician for the biogas program responsible to the district

authorities while NDBP would play a coordinating and advisory role. A pilot

approach will be needed to ensure that the right experience is available before rolling

out a selected approach. Kirehe district might offer such an opportunity with support

of the KWAMP program.

3. Kirehe district

3.1 Number of digesters constructed

As mentioned above the construction of biogas digesters in Kirehe started as early as

2008 with the installation of Chinese, prefabricated fibre glass digesters. In total 56 units

were installed in Kirehe district and this process was completed by 2009. Since then the

program has focussed on the construction of the masonry type digesters (the so called

modified GCC) which are used in all other SNV programs.

Table 3: Digesters Constructed in Kirehe district per sector.

Sector Chinese

FGD

masonry digesters

Total demo digesters

BPR loans

LWF subsidy

Own finance

subt total

Gahara 5 2 2 7

Gatore 6 1 9 10 16

Kigarama 9 1 10 10

Kigina 4 1 5 1 7 11

Kirehe 19 1 1 20

Mahama 1 10 11 11

Mpanga 2 0 2

Musaza 1 1 1 3 3

Mushikira 1 1 1

Mushikiri 9 1 3 4 13

Nasho 10 1 1 11

Ngarama 1 1 1

Nyamugali 1 2 3 3

Nyamugari 2 1 4 1 6 8

Nyarubuye 1 1 1

Total 57 10 31 14 6 61 118

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The Chinese FGDs were the first digesters constructed in the district as mentioned earlier

in the report. Unfortunately almost all the FGDs are now out of order for technical

reasons. Recently, the senior NDBP biogas technician has modified the digester of one

household in Gatore (Celestine Bugingo) costing Rwf 60,000. This seems to have solved

the problem and the farmer was very happy with the digester’s performance when the

consultant visited the place.

For demonstration purposes the program later constructed 10 masonry type digesters in

households of model farmers. The NDBP supported the construction with Rwf 600,000

subsidy instead of the usual Rwf 225000. NDBP also worked together with Lutheran

World Federation which supported the construction of 100 digesters in selected

households. In those cases, LWF contributed another Rwf 200,000 per digester as extra

subsidy on top of the Rwf 300,000 paid by NDBP. In Kirehe, 14 households profited

from this arrangement. By this time, these programs with extra subsidy are no longer

available.

The table shows the big differences between the different secteurs with Mpanga,

Musaza, Ngarama, Nyamugali and Nyarubuye have 3 or less digesters. It is not

immediately clear why there is such a big variation between the sectors. This could be

due to the numbers of dairy cows, less awareness or other factors which need further

investigation.

Kirehe district has a large number of bank loans compared to other districts. Taking into

account that during the construction of the Chinese fibre glass digesters, no bank credit

was available, this means that over 50% of the new customers have managed to obtain a

credit which about double the national figure. It has been mentioned that this has been

due to the very active contractors, who have assisted potential customers to access the

bank credit and the support of the field technician who was responsible for bothe Kirehe

and Ngoma districts. Unfortunately in August this year, the field technician resigned

from the National Program as he went for further studies. Since then there has been not

direct support from the program in Kirehe and this might partly explain the very low

construction figures over the last months. From July this year, only 8 digesters have been

completed.

3.2 District performance plan

The districts performance plan (Imihigo) for Kirehe district for 2011/12, item no 23

mentions as objective “Increased access and use of alternative energy” . The details are

shown below in the table below

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Table 4: Kirehe Districts Performance Plan 2011/12

Objective

(Item 23 of Imihigo) Increased access and use of alternative

energy

Output Biogas plants established increased to

180 units for climate change mitigation

Indicator Number of new biogas plants established

Baseline 85 biogas plants in use.

Target 180 households with biogas and 3

secondary schools

Responsible In charge of environment and water

Costs (Rwf) Rwf 21,600,000

Source of funds District/ KWAMP

According to the records of the district, only 8 new digesters have been completed

since the beginning of July 2011. The table above seems to indicate that for this

financial year 95 new digesters need to be constructed although in the discussion with

the district authorities, the figure of 180 NEW digesters was mentioned. Whatever, the

target, it clear that this will not be met if the rate of construction remains the same as

over the last 5 months (about 1 per month). Instead the rate should increase to 15 – 20

per month.

Already the district has held some meetings together with the coordinator of NDBP. A

list of 200 interested farmers compiled by the district authorities (prepared by the

Officer in charge of Environment and Water) was suppose to be communicated before

21st October but so far has not been received. U

3.3 Construction companies

Two construction companies are currently active in the Kirehh district.

a) RENTECH contact Joseph 0788 406 248 and

b) CEE, Abdul Karim, 0788 469661

Unfortunately the consultant did not manage to meet those two companies and telephone

conversations were not possible because of the language barriers. However, it is

understood that the companies have performed very well over the past years and that

their capacity is not the bottleneck at the moment. Even when real demand would

increase dramatically over the coming months, NDBP can encourage contractors from

neighbouring Ngoma district to come in and help fill the gap. At the same time new

contractors and their staff from Kirehe can be included in the regular training programs

by NDBP.

3.4 Banque Populaire of Rwanda

The consultant visited the BPR office in Kirehe and also met the branch manager (mr

Gatete). The bank accountant showed records for 38 customers that are supported by the

BPR . This is higher than the records of BPR loans (31 in number) shown in the NDBP

database. The reason could be that the BPR in some cases pays the subsidy on behalf of

the Ministry as was agreed in the MoU between the two parties. The subsidy amount of

Rwf 300,000 is paid in three tranches of Rwf 150,000 and of Rwf 135,000. The

remaining Rwf 15,000 is security money and held for at least one year.

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At the moment no other credit facilities, apart from BPR, are available to households

who want to construct a biogas digester. However, the district and the program might

want to explore the interest and possibilities of other MFIs such as Vision Finance

(supported by the World Vision and operating from 9 offices in the country, soon to be

expanded to 17 offices) and the Umurenge SACCOs which are supported by the

districts.

3.5 Awareness and promotion

Despite all the national awareness campaigns by the NDBP that have been conducted for

about 3 years on radio, TV, bill boards as well as meetings with district authorities and

other stakeholders, many in the district claim that, surprisingly, many farmers are still

not aware of biogas. The consultant was not in a position to verify this claim but clearly

it is an issue that needs attention.

The consultant visited the CCI (Centre of Innovation and Communication) in Gatore

which has been in operation for 6 months now. CCI has the objective to inform farmers

on new technologies. However, the consultant did not find any reference to biogas in the

display boards or anywhere else in the CCI. This seems a missed opportunity and can

easily be corrected.

The BPR branch manager was of the opinion that the presence of a good field technician

is essential to ensure effective promotion and follow up with the client farmers,

contractors, the bank and the national program. He stated that this support was not

available over the last months (as the field technician of the national program left the

service to go for further studies). The branch manager also suggested that more

awareness creation needs to be carried out through the local authorities through their

regular meetings with the population.

Through KWAMP, the NGO Heifer Projects International (HPI) is also running a

program in Kirehe, “One family, One cow” offering support to improve breeding stock,

veterinary services etc. Heifer has about 30 field technicians in the country and 10 are

stationed in Kirehe district. The head office claimed that their field staff have little

knowledge of the biogas program, which again looks surprising as Heifer has even been

involved when the national biogas program was created. Because of the direct contact

the Heifer technicians have with the livestock farmers, they seem an obvious means to

increase awareness and it was suggested that NDBP will attend the 6 monthly, national

meetings of the Heifer staff as well as use the 10 field staff in Kirehe more effectively.

4. KWAMP support to Biogas

The KWAMP program design document from 2008 includes a working paper (no 4) on

livestock development. This also includes a proposal on the introduction of biogas and

relevant information is presented below.

The table 5 below shows the livestock population in Kirehe district divided over the

sectors. There are no details on the number of animal per household or on zero grazing.

However, if we assume 3 traditional cows required for a biogas installation, then the

maximum number of households would be around 4,000. In reality this will be much

lower as many families only have 1- 2 cows, making investment in biogas unattractive

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till the number of animals increase. Some will have bigger herds and therefore

decreasing the number of households that are technical attractive for biogas.

Table 5: Number of cattle in Kirehe district per sector.

Secteur Vaches

modernes

hybrides Vaches

traditionnelles

Total

GAHARA 24 33 594 651

GATORE 6 24 797 827

KIGARAMA 3 17 1159 1179

KIGINA 19 45 923 987

KIREHE 17 36 760 813

MAHAMA 11 20 382 413

MPANGA 23 62 1704 1789

MUSAZA 19 50 1178 1247

MUSHIKIRI 22 120 1757 1899

NASHO 3 79 1095 1177

NYAMUGARI 9 50 794 853

NYARUBUYE 7 28 1017 1052

Total 163 564 12160 12887

Source: Monographie du District de Kirehe 2007

One of the outputs of KWAMP mentioned in the working paper is access for 2,000

households to biogas digesters producing gas for cooking and lighting as well as high

quality fertiliser in the form of improved manure. In view of the above figures on the

number households having cattle in the district and the experience with the technology

nationwide, it is unlikely that the target of 2000 digesters in Kirehe will be achieved the

end of the KWAMP program in 2016. A figure of 600 – 800 seems attainable provided

al conditions are in place. One of the main constraints are the high upfront investment

costs for biogas (as is common for renewable energy in general) which do not directly

translate into more income for the family (as a hybrid cow would do) but instead

improve quality of live and increases convenience.

The document further provides details on the proposed activities to ensure the

construction of biogas digesters. Reference is made to the National Domestic Biogas

Program which started mid 2007 by MINIFRA with technical assistance from SNV and

largely funded by GTZ. The document refers to the experience in China (which is by far

the largest user of small biogas systems in the world) and it proposes the use of Chinese

pre fabricated units as well as locally built masonry units. The working papers estimates

the costs of $250 per unit. The comparative study between FGD and masonry units

carried out in 2009, estimated the total cost of a FGD including its accessories, transport

from China to Rwanda, construction materials of pre-treatment tank, and cost of

installation at about Rwf 760,000 ($1250) while the masonry unit was calculated to be

Rwf 623,000 ($1,050)

The KWAMP working document proposed a 50% subsidy towards the monetary costs

of the biogas construction. However, based on $250 it would be much less than the Rwf

300,000 ($500) currently provided by NDBP.

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In view of the expertise currently available in the NDBP and the progress made so far

(albeit much slower than was planned), it will be advisable for KWAMP to effectively

join hands with the national program in order to stimulate developments in Kirehe

district in particular as well as to gain experience for future other IFAD supported

programs.

Improved cookstoves as a complementary effort.

Within the overall objective of reducing the consumption of fuel wood, the District and

KWAMP may in future also want to consider to strengthen the dissemination of

improved cookstoves . Again, the CCIs could play an important role in making them

better known and understood. Improved stoves have a considerable potential to reduce

the consumption of fuel wood as well as reduction of indoor air pollution, a mayor cause

of premature deaths, especially for women and children. In addition, households can

reduce the work load for searching firewood and/or expenses to buy such fuels.

Improved stoves are relatively low investments (from $ 5- 50 depending on the type,

quality and the size) and are an option for those households who do not have cattle.

There are already a number of programs and initiatives in Rwanda, for instance through

EWASA of Ministry of Infrastructure, using a market driven approach for the

dissemination of improved cookstoves and these avenues can be further explored. It

would contribute to the district’s objective of reducing firewood consumption and would

be complementary to the biogas program

5. Way forward

The consultant discussed the possible actions in a joint meeting with the Districts

Authorities (Vice Major and Executive Secretary) and the coordinator of the National

Domestic Biogas Program. The following are suggested;

1) Modification of the non functioning fibre glass digesters (about 50 in number)

which can be repaired at a relatively low costs of Rwf 60,000. The District

Authorities will call a meeting of the owners of those digesters, during which staff of

the NDBP will explain the suggested modifications, the costs involved and the

support to be provided by NDBP through its technicians.

2) Immediate recruitment of a biogas field technician (grade A1). He/she will be

employed by the district and provided with a motor cycle and other necessary

equipment as per standards of NDBP. A draft ToR has been attached in the annexes

The field technician can be either a) recruited with the support of the NDBP which

has already started the process of recruiting 4 – 5 field staff and this should be

completed by end Nov 2011 or b) selected among the 40 or so field staff already

available within the district, a person who meets the necessary qualifications. NDBP

can help in the selection procedures.

3) Increased awareness and promotional activities through direct meetings with

farmers, collaborating partners (such as CCI staff, Heifer, ENAS etc), local

authorities. The biogas technician will be responsible for setting up such a program.

He/she may be assisted by the NDBP. The program will support exchange visits for

interested farmers from sectors where there are few digesters, to see operating units

in neighbouring areas.

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4) Training of new biogas companies and technicians through the NDBP and SNV

regular programs. This should also include management training: preparing of

business plans, marketing, accounting and cash flow management.

A first training session for 15 contractors is planned for early December (contact

NDBP/SNV) and it would be good if 1 or 2 of the Kirehe companies could

participate. The training will include linkages with MFIs.

5) Testing of cheaper construction technologies in collaboration with NDBP. The

program wants to test the Interlocking Stabilised Soil Blocks which offers the

potential of reducing cement consumption. KWAMP can assist NDBP in the

provision of limited funds to procure the necessary tools (from Kenya or Uganda) as

well as supporting bringing experts from the region as recommended by NDBP/

SNV.

It is expected that with the proposed technical support, increased awareness campaigns

and the continuous availability of subsidy through the national program, the total number

of new digesters could reach 750 units in the 5 years counting from July 2011. However,

this will not be an easy task and requires commitments of al concerned, not in the least of

the farming households who have to pay the largest share of the investment.

Table 6: Targets for new digesters per year

Year Target

2011/12 100

2012/13 130

2013/14 150

2014/15 170

2015/16 200

total 750

6. Estimated budget

The table below provides an overview of the costs to support the biogas program for the

period of January 2012 – June 2014. This is in addition to the subsidies and other

activities which are provided under the National Domestic Biogas Program.

Table 7: Estimated budget for biogas sector

Activities to support biogas sector Estimated costs

1 Modification and repair of existing FGDs (costs paid by the farmer, technical support by NDBP) $0

2 Field technician Rwf 300,000 /month including fuel etc, 30 months $13,000

equipment, motorbike, laptop, GPS etc $5,500

3 Promotional activities (to be covered by district budget?) $5,000

4 Company training and support through NDBP and SNV $4,000

5 Testing of interlocking bricks for biogas and water tanks $8,000

Estimated total $37,500

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___________________


ANNEXES

Annex 1: Documentation consulted

1. IMIHIGO Kirehe district 2011-12

2. KWAMP working Document 4, 2008

3. Monographie du District de Kirehe 2007

4. Comparative study on Performance of Fibre Glass Digesters and Masonry Digesters

installed in Rwanda, November 2009

5. Rwanda SNV_Biogas Implementation Plan final Aug06

6. Biogas baseline report Nov07

7. NDBP validation report final_Feb10

8. Hivos Carbon credit proposal _July09

___________________


Annex 2: Persons consulted during the mission

Name Position Name

Organisation

email tel

Tihabyona

Jean de Dieu

Vice major economics,

Kirehe District [email protected] 0788 469 780

Eric Zikama Executive

Secretary


Janvier

Gasasira

Project

Coordinator

IFAD,

PAPSTA/KWAM

P

[email protected] +250 (788) 30

7522

André

Ndagijiman

a

Field

Coordinator

KWAMP [email protected] 0788 304 392

Josef Engineer KWAMP, Kirehe [email protected] 0788 601 314

Gatete Branch

manager

BPR Kirehe [email protected] 0788 682 682

Deo Agronomist ENAS, Kirehe 0788 742 575

Umurerwa

Seraphine

program

officer

Heifer International [email protected] 0788 585 620

Jost Uwase Manager CCI Gatore, Kirehe cci@[email protected]

0788 430 723

Sylvain

Mutabaruka

Environmenta

l officer


Alfred

Nkubili

Director ENAS and farmer [email protected] 0788 300 760

Jean Marie

Vienney

Musangwa

Senior

Operations

Manager

Vision Finance

Company

[email protected]

om

0788 305 604

Timothy

Kayumba

Project

Coordinator

NNDBP [email protected] 0788 466 635

Anaclet

Ndahimana

Biogas expert SNV Rwanda [email protected]

g

0788 859 138

Dominique

Owekisa

Private sector

and finance

SNV Rwanda [email protected] 0788 301 509

mailto:[email protected]








___________________


Annex 3: ToR Biogas Field Technician

1 Specific duties Biogas Field Technician will work in the Kirehe Districts and its Secteur with the different

stakeholders but in particular with the households and the local contractors and the credit

institutions.

He/she has the following specific tasks:

Assist the district and NDBP’s promotion campaign by contacting interested

farmers, contractors and agents of local authorities and advice in the completion of

the NDBP forms;

Assist farmers, biogas construction companies, the Banque Populaire du Rwanda

and local authorities in the completion of forms from the NDBP to obtain susidy

provided by the national program;

Evaluate the technical conditions of household before construction

Monitor the quality of plants under construction and issue completion forms for

completed units.

Monitor the after-sales services provided by the biogas companies

Report any defects observed in bio digesters to the district’s authorities and inform

NDBP,

Contribute in training sessions for users and technicians

Assist companies and local organizations in conducting users training sessions

Collect data on the digesters from the field and provide monthly field reports for the

district as well as for the NDBP

Undertake any other task assigned by the Districts Authorities.

2 The required profile

The successful candidate must have the following qualifications and/or skills:

Technical educational in civil construction or agricultural subjects A1

(minimum),

at least 2 years relevant working experience (supervision of construction) in rural

areas;

good knowledge of the rural sector in Rwanda;

Experience and/or willingness to ride a motorcycle as transport in the rural areas

Good verbal and written communication skills in Kinyarwanda, French and/or

English.

Having received training in biogas technology is an added advantage

3 Place of work

The field technician will be based in Kirehe district

4 Duration of the assignment

___________________


The duration of the contract shall initially be for a period of 24 months (with a 6 month

probation period) and will be renewable depending on performance and program

requirements.

5 Application procedures

Interested candidates should provide the following documents:

an application letter for employment;

a detailed curriculum vitae;

photocopies of degrees and certificates obtained.

Closing date/time for application: date xx Month Year at xx.00 hrs

All applications shall be submitted to:

Executive Secretary

Postal details : xxxx

Kirehe district

___________________


Annex 4 : Bill of Quantities and average costs of biogas digester of 6 mtr3

SN Items Unit

Qty

NDBP

Unit Cost

NDBP

Total Cost

NDBP

1 Building materials

FRW FRW

1.1 Stones m3 6.0

12,500

75,000

1.2 Gravel 20mm diameter maximum m3 2.0

20,000

40,000

1.3 Clean coarse sand m3 2.0

15,000

30,000

1.4 Clean fine sand m3 2.0

15,000

30,000

Sub total 1 175,000

2 Cement

2.1 Portland Cement bags 18.0 11,000

198,000

Sub total 2 198,000

3 Hardware materials

2.1 Acrylic emulsion paint kg 2.0 2,000

4,000

2.2 Gas Turret pipe with 1 1/4-1/2 reducer pcs 1.0 7,000

7,000

2.3 Steel rods 8mm pcs 4.0 7,500

30,000

2.4 Binding wire kg 0.5 2,000

1,000

2.5 Galvanized wire kg 0.5 2,000

1,000

2.6 PVC pipe 110 mm, PN 4 pcs 1.0 12,000

12,000

2.7 PVC pipes 20 mm, PN 16 pcs 7.0 2,500

17,500

2.8 PVC elbow 20mm pcs 7.0 500

3,500

2.9 PVC tee 20 mm pcs 4.0 500

2,000

2.10 PVC socket 20 mm pcs 3.0 500

1,500

2.11 PVC Adapter nipple 1/2 pcs 4.0 500

2,000

2.12 PVC Adapter socket 1/2 pcs 1.0 500

500

2.13 Tangit Glue kg 0.25 8,000

2,000

2.14 Galvanized Nipple 1/2'' pcs 5.0 500

2,500

2.15 Galvanized Union pcs 1.0 700

700

2.16 Galvanised Plug 1/2'' pcs 1.0 500

500

2.17 Gas hose pipe m 2.50

___________________


2,000 5,000

2.18 Hosepipe Nipple pcs 5.0 2,000

10,000

2.19 Hosepipe clamp pcs 6.0 600

3,600

2.20 Gas valve 1/2'' pcs 4 3,500

14,000

2.21 Biogas lamp pcs 1 15,000

15,000

2.22 Biogas stove pcs 1 20,000

20,000

2.23 Pressure gauge pcs 1 7,000

7,000

2.24 Teflon tapes pcs 3 300

900

2.25 Galavanised elbow pcs 2 500

1,000

2.26 Wood screws pcs 10 30

300

2.27 Screw holders 8 mm pcs 10 30

300

2.28 Wall clamps 1/2" pcs 5 500

2,500

2.29 Desulphication device pcs 1 13,000

13,000

Sub total 3 180,300

4 Labour and unexpected cost

4.1 Skilled labour person-day 15

3,500

52,500

4.2 Unskilled labour person-day 40

1,500

60,000

4.3 Work Supervision lumpsum 1 15,000

15,000

4.4 After-sales services lumpsum 3 2,500

7,500

4.5 Transport supervision days 3 2,500

7,500

4.6 Transport of special materials lumpsum 1 15,000

15,000

4.7 Gross margin for company including 1 year guaranty lumpsum

70,000

Sub total 4 227,500

Total cost of a 6 m3 digester

780,800

___________________


Annex 5

Chinese fibre glass digester 6 mtr3

Assembled from 4 parts

Installation in the ground

Covered with top structures

Photographs of digester constructions

___________________


Masonry type digester

Built at location using stones, sand and cement. Built by local masons

Digester underground

Inlet and overflow shown

IFAD Biogas support Mission in Rwanda

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