Smokeless Charcoal Briquettes - Uganda

In November 2014 the Fund awarded a grant of €4,000 to Nyakasanga Development Community Foundation, Kasese towards the expansion of a project already under way compressing recycled materials for smokeless charcoal briquettes.

The project involves disadvantaged grass-root communities in converting waste into smokeless fuel briquettes in an effort geared towards environmental conservation and reducing indoor pollution. The project is aimed at empowering women and youth in the community to contribute towards combating poverty and improving healthy lifestyle.

This project has established a very useful model (which can be replicated) to compress recycled materials such as paper, cardboard, sawdust, soil and organic waster to make fuel for cooking, which is equal to or superior to charcoal. The resultant briquettes are cost effective and produce less smoke, this being beneficial in terms of human health.