• Baya said secondary schools in Kilifi are the highest consumers of firewood fuel, with each school using at least 900 tonnes of firewood per year.
• Mtalo said residents will be trained on the production and use of briquettes as a way of generating income.
Image: FILE
The Kilifi government has distributed briquette-making machines to each of the seven subcounties as one way of reducing environmental degradation.
Kilifi is among the counties affected by climate change due to deforestation. Eighty per cent of residents depend on wood fuel, contributing to environmental degradation.
The county has signed a five-year deal with the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya to implement a project called Voices for Climate Action.
The project aims to increase the adoption of climate-friendly clean cooking solutions like briquettes. This will reduce the use of charcoal and firewood.
Speaking to the media after the project's launch in Kilifi town, Lands, Housing and Physical Planning chief officer Eric Randu said each of the seven subcounties now has a briquette-making machine.
Randu said that briquette production will not only help counter the effects of climate change but also create more employment opportunities for the youth and residents of Kilifi.
County Energy Division director Wilfred Baya said secondary schools in Kilifi are the highest consumers of firewood fuel, with each school using at least 900 tonnes of firewood per year.
Baya said the high consumption of firewood has resulted in deforestation.
Clean Cooking Association of Kenya accounting officer Philomena Mtalo said the project will be implemented in Kwale and Kilifi since there are high rates of dependency upon forestation and unsustainable use of biomass in the region.
Mtalo said residents will be trained on the production and use of briquettes as a way of generating income.
Economic adviser in the office of Kilifi governor, Joshua Mazera, said the ongoing drought is a result of climate change, mainly due to deforestation.
He said areas like Magarini and Ganze are among the worst affected.
Mazera urged organisations to partner with the county government to support the clean cooking agenda.
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro warned that those found burning charcoal will face the law.
He spoke when he flagged off a truck carrying briquette machines.
The machines were procured through a collaboration between the county government and the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya. The project was funded by the World Wide Fund under ‘Voice for Climate Action’ project.
Mung’aro said each briquette machine to be stationed in each subcounty is worth Sh1 million.
He urged residents to collaborate with the county’s efforts to curb climate change to get rid of the worsening drought in the area.
Edited by A.N