Producing biochar and organic fertilizer in Cameroon

DW (English)

Hubard Stephny, a 29-year-old petroleum engineer, has turned into a pioneer of green energy and organic fertilizer in Cameroon. He is bringing his green ideas to communities and is training them.

Transcript

00:00 The roadside here, littered with waste.

00:02 But for Houbart, it's a treasure trove.

00:05 He and his team regularly head out to gather vegetable scraps

00:09 in the Cameroonian community of Pendia.

00:12 There's no municipal waste collection,

00:14 so everything ends up on the streets.

00:17 For the Family Green Corporation NGO,

00:20 it's a valuable resource.

00:21 We want to recycle this household waste in a useful way.

00:27 It's lying around everywhere.

00:29 Most of it is vegetable waste,

00:31 which we can use to produce eco-friendly charcoal

00:34 for lots of people.

00:36 It costs less, so it's affordable for families.

00:39 The team has all the equipment they need.

00:46 They use a cargo trike to bring the bags of vegetable scraps

00:49 to the recycling yard.

00:51 They can process hundreds of kilos of waste a month.

00:57 The first step is sorting the waste.

01:00 Bananas, cornstalks, as well as coconut and bamboo branches

01:04 are all good for making organic charcoal.

01:08 Just like the wood charcoal, the material first has to be burned.

01:13 The team works to keep emissions to a minimum.

01:16 The burned vegetable waste is then mixed with other organic waste

01:20 and then combined with a gluey substance

01:22 derived from the cassava plant.

01:25 Every machine here was built by the NGO.

01:29 But not every job has been automated.

01:31 The last step is forming the charcoal by hand

01:34 and then placing the briquettes in the sun to dry.

01:41 It's a clean, healthy fuel that doesn't smoke

01:44 and can even be used in the home like gas.

01:46 So it replaces butane gas.

01:54 At the same time, it also helps address the waste problem

01:57 in our community.

01:59 And it helps in the fight against deforestation

02:01 and helps address the problem of global warming.

02:10 The NGO produces some 300 kilos of organic charcoal.

02:14 Some of it is sold in major cities like Douala,

02:18 but most remain in nearby communities.

02:21 Qubart's NGO now employs 12 people and they all receive a good wage.

02:29 The organization offers internships too.

02:32 At the moment, Catherine Bilae Mbeya,

02:35 a student from the coastal city of Douala,

02:38 is doing an internship here.

02:43 I'm passionate about everything to do with protecting the environment,

02:48 everything to do with organics.

02:50 I was immediately won over by the fact that the corporation

02:52 is involved in the production of bio-fertilizers,

02:56 ecological charcoal and biogas.

03:04 The NGO built its first biogas plants for local farmers.

03:08 Now they've expanded and also manufactured them

03:11 for private individuals and institutions throughout the country.

03:16 Qubart has made a career out of renewable energy

03:19 and it's all because the oil industry didn't want him.

03:23 I'm a trained petroleum engineer.

03:27 In 2016, after I finished my studies,

03:32 it was very difficult for us to find a job in the oil industry.

03:36 So together with some friends and classmates,

03:39 we came up with the idea to set up an organization

03:42 to promote alternatives to fossil fuels.

03:49 Along with green energy,

03:51 the NGO recently added organic fertilizer to its portfolio.

03:55 They use a method that is simple but very efficient.

03:59 Tender green leaves are soaked in water

04:01 and then mixed with other organic wastes

04:03 such as vegetable matter or cow dung.

04:07 After several weeks, the fertilizer is ready to use.

04:12 The NGO also does community outreach with farmers and schools.

04:16 They hope to win farmers over to using organic fertilizer

04:19 or even take part in producing it.

04:24 We've been to various schools and shown the students there

04:27 how to manage waste sustainably.

04:30 The young students are the foundation for the future.

04:33 When they finish school,

04:34 they should be inspired to contribute to this sector.

04:41 The NGO is a pioneer in Cameroon.

04:44 If the ideas catch on,

04:46 many more young people in the country stand to benefit

04:49 and the environment will benefit too.

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