Description of the project: In Saint-Louis, Senegal, fish  smoking, a women’s activity, still uses expensive, high-emitting and polluting sources of energy. This pilot project proposes  a sustainable, economical and ecological energy solution for  a Group of Collective Interest (GIE) consisting of 700 women  fish-processors. By recovering waste from their activities through  composting units (organic fertilizer) and methanization, this  innovative technology brings sustainable ecological and economic benefits to a highly feminized and low value-added business  sector.

Climate impact: Saint-Louis is threatened by rising waters.  It is crucial to mitigate climate impacts in this region.  The installation of 6 biodigestors feeding 10 cooking platforms can neutralize 12 t. of methane and 252 t. of CO2 per year.  Also, wood fuel savings and the composting of halieutic  by-products into organic fertilizer greatly reduces the climate footprint of this process. A wide expansion of the process is planned throughout Saint-Louis, within the framework of the National Biogas Program. 

Gender impact: The project takes a gender approach from  design to implementation to evaluation. The benefits are  multiple: hard work (collection of wood) is considerably reduced, as well as the negative health impact of wood burning; the  cost of energy decreases and the production of digestate (sold  as fertilizer) creates added value; and revenues from product  processing are significantly improved. In total, the project empowers 700 women workers through decent income generation and sustainable development.  

Scalability / replicability: The involvement of beneficiaries in the construction and management of methanization through an autonomous management structure ensures ownership of the project and its sustainability. The economic model is viable through the sales of excessive biogas and compost, which allows long-term maintenance of the facilities. This pilot, which involved local authorities, was designed to promote the transferability of technical knowledge and the replicability of the intervention method.

 

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Publication date
Type of publication
Case study
Objective
Mitigation
Approach
Endogenous technologies
Gender
Sectors
Renewable energy
CTCN Keyword Matches
Gender
Senegal
Fodder crops
Sustainable fertilizers
Solar cooking