ECO-FUEL AFRICA LIMITED- CREATING ALTERNATIVE GREEN JOBS FOR THE POOR!
Poverty and Climate Change are the two leading challenges of our time. At Eco-fuel Africa, we have invented a sustainable solution to both. We have invented break-through clean technology that will provide energy poor households access to clean energy and create millions of green jobs for the poor who destroy forests for survival. But that’s not all, our proceeds will be used to plant trees in Africa. Our target is to create at least one million green jobs, bring clean energy closer to at least 40 million poor people and plant at least a quarter of a billion trees by 2020.
Sobre ti
Sobre ti
Nombre
MOSES
Apellido
SANGA
URL de Twitter
URL de Facebook
Sobre tu organización
Nombre de la organización
ECO-FUEL AFRICA LIMITED
Sitio web de la organización
Teléfono de la organización
+256782660631
Dirección de la organización
P.O. BOX 34714, KAMPALA
País de la organización
Uganda
Países en donde este proyecto está creando impacto social
Uganda, XX
Tu organización es
Empresa
¿Cuánto tiempo ha estado operando la organización?
Menos de un año
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Innovación
Título del Formulario de Inscripción
ECO-FUEL AFRICA LIMITED- CREATING ALTERNATIVE GREEN JOBS FOR THE POOR!
¿Qué cambios quieres traer al mundo?
Poverty and Climate Change are the two leading challenges of our time. At Eco-fuel Africa, we have invented a sustainable solution to both. We have invented break-through clean technology that will provide energy poor households access to clean energy and create millions of green jobs for the poor who destroy forests for survival. But that’s not all, our proceeds will be used to plant trees in Africa. Our target is to create at least one million green jobs, bring clean energy closer to at least 40 million poor people and plant at least a quarter of a billion trees by 2020.
¿Cuáles son las actividades principales de tu proyecto?
First of all, we make and distribute organic charcoal from agricultural waste as an alternative to wood-fuel. Our organic charcoal is distributed through a network of small-scale retailers mainly made up of poor women and youths previously surviving on cutting down trees. This is creating alternative green jobs for people at the base of the pyramid.
Secondly, we make low-cost kilns and solar-powered briquetting machines from locally available materials and help community based groups to start small-scale organic charcoal manufacturing plants. We train these groups in briquette making and supply them with the equipment and machinery required. We then link them to markets or buy the charcoal from them directly
Thirdly, we use our proceeds to plant trees in Africa in order to try and replace the trees already lost. With the help of the new tree planting club we recently started called "FOR TREES", we hope to plant at least a quarter of a billion trees in Africa by 2020. This will make Africa an immense carbon sink and help to mitigate climate change.
¿Qué es innovador acerca de tu iniciativa? ¿Cómo es que es un nuevo aporte al campo?
We have invented a unique and energy efficient method of making organic charcoal from agricultural waste. Our new method is suitable for large-scale production and will enable us to provide millions of energy poor households with a clean, sustainable and cheaper alternative to wood-fuel. Our new method also doesn’t emit greenhouse gases like the traditional methods of making charcoal;
We have also invented the world’s first solar powered briquetting machine which is made wisely from recycled materials and is affordable and easy to use. This will enable millions of poor people mainly in rural areas to start small-scale organic charcoal making plants as a business;
Our business model is also creating many green jobs for people at the bottom of the pyramid. We are creating jobs for youths who transport organic charcoal on bicycles; poor women who distribute organic charcoal and rural farmers who are starting small-scale organic charcoal manufacturing plants using our machines. This is a business that even a person who can't write their name can do.
We have also found an innovative way to reduce deforestation in developing countries. We deliberately target people who depend on activities that destroy forests and help them to have an alternative source of income. We also use part of our proceeds to plant trees. We are simply the new kings of green in Africa!
¿En qué fase está el proyecto?
Operando entre 1-5 años
Háblanos de la comunidad con la que estás trabajando, por ejemplo, sus condiciones económicas, las estructuras políticas, normas y valores, las tendencias demográficas, la historia y la experiencia con los esfuerzos de compromiso.
Although our machines and business model can be used in all developing countries, for the first five years, we are concentrating on Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 80% of Sub-Saharan Africans use wood-fuel as the main source of energy. However, as trees and forests disappear, wood-fuel is increasingly becoming harder to find. As a result, families now spend almost 60 percent of their incomes on wood-fuel. This is worsening poverty levels of these already miserably poor people.
Also, as forests disappear, women and children, especially girls have to spend days and travel for long distances to find wood-fuel for their families. This is increasing school-dropouts for school going girls in Africa and reducing time available to women to engage in income generating activities.
Over dependence on wood-fuel in Africa is also worsening the effects of Climate Change and yet the poor are so vulnerable and have no capacity to cope with weather related disasters.
The rate of unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa especially among rural youths and women is also alarming. Most of these almost never have a choice to become a factory worker, lawyer or teacher. They therefore turn to forests and other available resources for survival. This is worsening the rate of deforestation.
There is therefore an urgent need to find solutions to the problems of deforestation and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. At Eco-fuel Africa Limited we believe we have invented the silver bullet to these challenges and we need your support to take it to scale.
Compartir la historia del fundador y lo que inspiró al fundador para iniciar este proyecto
In January, 2009, I travelled to my home village in Western Uganda to visit my Mother. On my way home, I met my sister carrying a bundle of firewood on her head and I was shocked to discover from her that she had missed school that day and walked for 10 kilometers to buy firewood. As we walked home, she told me with tears flowing down her beautiful face about the burden she goes through every day to find cooking fuel because it’s now impossible to find firewood in the neighborhood because all the trees have been cut down. That day, I made a decision to dedicate my entire life to helping the poor find an alternative to wood-fuel and to find a solution to deforestation in Africa.
I would quit my job to start Eco-fuel Africa Limited, a social enterprise that is dedicated to giving the poor a clean alternative to wood-fuel and planting trees in Africa. With only $500 raised mainly from my personal savings and from selling my household items, we managed to launch a pilot plant and invented a unique energy-efficient method of making organic charcoal from agricultural waste that is suitable for large-scale production. In November 2010, our first batch of organic charcoal landed on the market. We have also formed a club called FOR TREES through which we plant trees in Africa.
People say that I am obsessed with stopping deforestation and creating sustainable jobs for the poor and I believe they are right.
Impacto social
Esta presentación se trata de
Describa cómo tu proyecto ha tenido éxito y la forma en que éste mide.
When we started in June, 2010, we had two major goals: to design a solar-powered briquetting machine and to design a business model that will deliberately create millions of alternative green jobs for people at the base of the pyramid. We have so far achieved both goals.
We successfully made the world’s first solar-powered briquetting machine from locally available and recycled materials. This machine will be used by millions of rural people to set up small-scale businesses making organic charcoal from agricultural waste.
We have also succeeded in creating an innovative business model that will create millions of green jobs for poor women, youths and rural farmers in developing countries.
We measure our success basing on two factors: sustainability and impact created at the base of the pyramid.
We use customer surveys to receive feedback about the impact created. We also keep records of all new jobs created as a result of our project. Already, we have helped to start two small-scale organic charcoal making plants in rural Uganda employing 10 people each directly and indirectly creating jobs for many other poor people in villages.
We have also trained and empowered 15 women to start small-scale distribution franchises for the organic charcoal made by us or by our entrepreneurs.
However, while statistics are an important measure of our success, it’s the individual stories of the poor people whose lives have changed who are our most important achievement. For example, Namubiru Sarah is a single mother in Uganda with two beautiful children. Before she enrolled for our entrepreneurship-training program, she had no job because she lacked any marketable skills. Today, she runs a successful organic charcoal distribution franchise and she is able to feed her family. Our dream is to give millions of other people like Sarah an opportunity to a better future.
¿Cuántas personas han sido afectadas por el proyecto?
101-1.000
¿Cuántas personas podrían verse afectadas por el proyecto en los próximos tres años?
Más de 10,000
¿Cómo va a evolucionar tu proyecto durante los próximos tres años?
We are still operating in only Uganda now but we plan to extend to all the five East African countries in the next three years.
We are also designing a strategy to include people with disabilities in our business model especially in our distribution chain. Our dream is a world where all people have equal opportunities.
In addition to equipping people with skills and helping them to access the machinery needed to start small-scale business, we hope in the next three years to have formed enough partnerships with microfinance companies to be able to help our entrepreneurs access micro-loans as well. This will enable them to turn their businesses into sustainable ventures that create jobs and meet local energy needs.
Sustenibilidad
¿Qué barreras pueden dificultar el éxito de tu proyecto y cómo piensa resolverlas?
High poverty levels: We target people at the bottom of the pyramid most of whom earn less than a dollar a day. This may make it hard to turn these people into successful entrepreneurs and consumers. As a solution to this, we shall form these people into groups and work with microfinance organizations to enable them access soft loans.
We have also designed a revolutionary credit policy which will enable us to supply our machines to these people on credit and then receive payments in small manageable installments.
High levels of illiteracy and ignorance: About 70 percent of our target customers are unable to read and write. This will make training and empowerment hard. As a solution, our training courses will be designed in local languages and mainly practical rather than theoretical skills will be emphasized.
We shall also work with local governments and relevant NGOs to ensure that our customers are empowered and acquire the required skills and resources necessary to start and manage successful organic charcoal manufacturing and distribution businesses.
Cuéntanos sobre tus alianzas.
Our most important partners are the local communities we work with. We work with local women groups, youth groups and rural farmers. These are the people who live the reality of our dream. They make our work possible by investing their time, commitment and social capital while we provide the training, access to technology and business support.
We are also working with Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST). These offered us basic technical training and we have also consulted them on a number of other technical issues.
We have also received support from Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) an umbrella of private companies in Uganda. PSFU trained us and equipped us with business plan writing skills and offered us a grant of $ 10,000 on behalf of government of Uganda. They have also recognized our project as a timely, needed and environmentally correct.
The founder of this project, Mr. Moses Sanga is also an Unreasonable Institute Fellow, 2011 and we hope that this fellowship will be important in shaping the future of Eco-fuel Africa Limited. Here is the link to his profile: http://unreasonableinstitute.org/profile/msanga/
Actual presupuesto anual en dólares americanos.
$10,001‐50,000
Explica tu selección.
Friends and family: The founder invested USD 1,200 of his personal funds in the project. USD 500 was money he saved while he was still employed. He raised the USD 700 by selling some of his personal property like household furniture;
National Government: We won a grant of USD 10,000 from the Ugandan government in September, 2010. USD 5000 has already been remitted on our bank account and the balance will be received soon;
Customers: We get income from sales. We sell organic charcoal to local communities at a profit and all proceeds are re-invested into the business.
¿Cómo se va a fortalecer tu proyecto durante los próximos tres años?
Increase sales: Now that we are sure of the quality of our charcoal and our solar powered briquetting machines and kilns, we are working on an efficient and effective sales plan to enable us increase sales in order to generate enough internal revenue to finance our budget;
Look for more external funders: We are participating in this competition because we want to raise capital to strengthen our business. We shall keep looking out for other opportunities like this one;
Partnerships will be formed with microfinance organizations, local governments and NGOs: We are currently working on a strategy that will enable us to form partnerships with community based groups, relevant NGOs and local governments to enable us form stronger relationships with local communities, local leaders and other stakeholders. This will enable us reach more people and have more impact especially among the people at the bottom of the pyramid
Desafíos
¿Qué barreras al empleo aborda tu innovación? Por favor, selecciona un máximo de tres por orden de relevancia para el proyecto.
PRIMARIA
Falta de habilidades y capacitación
SECUNDARIA
Subempleo
TERCIARIA
Falta de acceso a la información y redes
Por favor, describe cómo la innovación específicamente aborda las barreras mencionadas anteriormente.
Training and Empowerment: We train women groups, youth groups, farmers and individuals and turn them into manufactures and distributors organic charcoal and planters of trees;
Job Creation: We create sustainable and meaningful green jobs for unemployed or underemployed youths, women and rural farmers. These jobs are both direct and indirect. This is helping many people out of poverty and reducing environmental degradation because many unemployed youths turn to activities that destroy the environment for survival;
Linkages: We link our entrepreneurs to microfinance companies, NGOs and markets to enable them grow their distribution franchises or organic charcoal manufacturing businesses
¿Cómo estás haciendo crecer el impacto de tu organización o iniciativa?
Por favor, selecciona un máximo de tres maneras posibles en orden de relevancia para ti.
Primary
Hacer crecer el alcance geográfico: Multipaíses
SECUNDARIA
Aprovechar la tecnología
TERCIARIA
Mejorar el impacto actual a través de la adición de servicios complementarios
Por favor, describe cuál de las actividades para crecer están en curso o previstas para el futuro inmediato.
We intend to scale-up the manufacturing of our solar-powered briquetting machines. This will enable us to help many rural people to start small-scale rural-based organic charcoal manufacturing plants.
We are also currently researching about whether the char powder made by our kilns can be used as organic fertilizers. The initial tests are very positive and if everything goes according to plan, we shall soon start teaching farmers how to make organic fertilizers locally using our kilns. This will improve crop yields and improve incomes of farmers.
We have also developed a mentorship and training program focused on people at the base of the pyramid that we intend to scale-up to involve as many local communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as possible.
Colaboras con algunos de los siguientes organismos: (Indica todos los que corrrespondan)
Proveedores de tecnología, ONGs/organizaciones sin fines de lucro, Empresas, Academia/Universidades.
De ser así, ¿estas colaboraciones han ayudado a que tu innovación tenga éxito?
We have received funding from our local government;
We have also received technical training and invaluable support from nonprofit organizations like Uganda Industrial Research Institute and Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST). These offered us basic technical training and we have also consulted them on a number of other technical issues.
We have also worked with other organizations like the Unreasonable Institute through its annual fellowship. This will enable us to learn from world-class mentors and form partnerships with potential investors.
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 | 46 weeks agoDaniela Papi said: I recently met Moses when I visited the Unreasonable Institute, and let me say, this sure is an UNREASONABLE man! You can feel the ... about this Competition Entry. - leer más > |
| 47 weeks agoKelly B said: A wonderful initiative that needs global support. Thank you for your leadership, Moses. about this Competition Entry. - leer más > |
| 47 weeks agojennifer guintu said: Hi Sanga, You and your work have inspired me. I'm thankful for knowing you and I wish you all the luck in the world. about this Competition Entry. - leer más > |
| 47 weeks agoNoel Wilson said: Great work Moses, and a great initiative. I look forward to seeing it blossom. about this Competition Entry. - leer más > |
| 49 weeks agoMOSES SANGA updated this Competition Entry. |
| 49 weeks agoMOSES SANGA updated this Competition Entry. |
| 49 weeks agoMOSES SANGA updated this Competition Entry. |
| 49 weeks agoMOSES SANGA updated this Competition Entry. |
| 50 weeks agoNyamera Phina said: Moses, yo idea is brilliant, sustainable, practicle and a venture worth exploring about this Competition Entry. - leer más > |
| 50 weeks agoMOSES SANGA updated this Competition Entry. |