SNV signs agreement for Burkina's biogas carbon credits

At the end of 2016, SNV signed an Emission Reduction Sales Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank Carbon Initiative for Development (WB-CiDev). This ERPA defines the sales of certified carbon credits generated by the National Biodigester Programme of Burkina Faso (PNB-BF) to WB-CiDev from 2014 till 2025.

The National Biogas Programme (PNB-BF) started in 2010 as a cooperation between the Burkina Faso Ministry of Animal Recourses and the Africa Biogas Programme Partnership (ABPP) with ODA funding until March 2019 from the Dutch Government.

The main objective of the programme is to come to a permanent, market based domestic biodigester sector. Some 8,000 digesters have been installed at this time, while 40,000 digesters are to be completed by 2024. The main actors are private businesses, MFIs, NGOs, provincial govenment departments.

The programme is part of the Government of Burkina Faso’s (GoBF) ‘Strategy for Accelerated Growth and Durable Development’ and integrated in national Energy, agriculture and Women Livelihood sectors. The GoBF has been instrumental in reaching this deal by guaranteeing the pre-financing of the programme costs, because the carbon finance revenues are only being paid out after the digesters have been installed. The GoBF is already providing end user investment subsidy to make the digester construction more affordable for the poorer farmer households.

The PNB-BF is the first Component Project Activity (CPA) under the Multi-Country West Africa Biogas CDM-Programme of Activities (POA). The duration of the registration with the UNFCC is 3 times 7 years while the contract with the WB-CiDev covers the period 2014-2025. One digester generates 3.62 ton CO2eq emission reduction per digester per year. SNV Burkina Faso is the Coordinating and Monitoring Entity for the CDM-PoA.

The co-benefits of biodigester use are various. Burkina Faso is a landlocked Sahel country of 274 000 km², with a population of 16 million; 85 % of population resides in rural areas, making a living from agriculture. The ecologically of the country is very fragile, 46% of the national territory suffers from soil degradation, 90% of used biomass is non-renewable and 86% of the domestic energy use is biomass based. This leads to a deforestation of 105,000 ha/year. Food insecurity is experienced by 62% of the population.

Long-term functionality of biodigesters provide households with a good organic fertiliser, a 6m3 digester produces about 20 tons of high quality compost per year. The use of this fertiliser improves family farm productivity, food security and households’ incomes.

Depending on the size, and feeding practice, a biodigester will produce an average between of 1.2-2 cubic meter of biogas per day and therewith reduce firewood use with about 12 kg per household per day, which greatly reduces the workload for women and the exposure to indoor air pollution.

As a recognition of the great work done by the PNB-BF Programme Coordinator, Monsieur Xavier Bambara, he was awarded the order of "Officier de l'Ordre National" by the President of Burkina Faso on 8 December 2016 during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ouagadougou.