Cross-published on Youth Exchange of Perspectives
When I read through Jared’s updates of his time in China, he reminded me the fundamental cultural exposure and experience that are essential in a cross-cultural encounter. It is an element I sometimes neglect while I am carrying a more important personal “global environmental” agenda with me to Kenya for the second time. Despite being a researcher of environmental issues this time, I find myself still a “CUYCEer (or YEPer now)” even though I am a continent away from both China and the U.S. It is not my intention to devote my first blog on this site to talk about my experience in none of the two countries, but I have to say my life in Kenya and the other life with YEP are so much intertwined on so many aspects. One is feeding the growth of another. It is a continuously and organically evolving curly cue. Therefore I hope the story that comes with my interest in cook stove in Kenya will shed some light on “youth for sustainability” across the border to my fellow YEPers.
To make a lengthy story short, before the UN Climate Change meeting in Cancun, I had been interning at the UN Environmental Program in Nairobi, Kenya for half a year. Having attended the previous climate meeting in Copenhagen and felt at home with the international youth climate movement, I readily become a devotee to the African Youth Initiative on climate change Kenya chapter (AYICC-K) even before I landed Nairobi. Because of my personal interests in cook stoves in less developed countries (another “carry-over” interest from my time with Energy Crossroads Denmark), members of AYICC-K introduced me to a slew of youth-led community-based organizations across Kenya that are engaged with improved cook stove dissemination. One such visit was to the Tembea Youth Center for Sustainable Development, close to the northern shore of Lake Victoria in the western part of Kenya. It was just an overnight visit and once again I am drawn back to the African sun that shines a billion things to life. This time I am back for the summer to both conduct research for my honor thesis and to rekindle the inspirations and enthusiasm that I had from my equally energetic young Kenyan friends.
Then here comes what is “curly cue” about it. Out of last year’s visits and interactions with my fellow AYICCers, together around eight of us started the Rural Energy Enterprises Network, or REEN (just to add more acronyms for your information). Therefore this year’s research trip is also intended to generate knowledge to build the foundation upon which REEN delivers its vision. But it is preciously with CUYCE and YEP since Copenhagen that I come to understand and learn what it takes to plant a seed, nurture and grow it. Yes the equatorial African landscape and soil is a completely different picture from that of China and the U.S., the good ingredients of exchange, partnership and collaboration are more or less the same. The same passion – the belief in bridging individuals and building networks to defend planetary sustainability and the confidence in the young people of the world to deliver grand vision – takes me from China to the U.S., from Copenhagen to Cancun, and onto Kenya.
And we are blessed with possibilities, of which we can make changes. What my young colleagues in Kenya inspire me the most are their creativity and entrepreneurship in tackling climate change, environment and development issues. Tembea, which I base my research on, has recently engaged in a carbon offset project that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the diffusion of energy efficient cook stoves. In many parts of the world, people are still cooking with open fires made of three stones or other types of traditional stoves deemed “grossly inefficient.” The heavy and toxic smoke coming out of these stoves is killing some 1.6 million people worldwide (especially women and children,) annually, not to mention the trees being cut down and other environmental and health issues. At least the WHO says so, and many more (governments and donors alike) who are concerned with energy supply and deforestation in developing countries and their consequence globally.
In a much prolonged two-year long pilot phase, Tembea has constructed over 1600 energy efficient cook stoves in rural households, maintained 50 artisans or technicians (male and female, mostly young people) and facilitated over 130 community saving and loaning groups. The new stoves are also called “rocket stove” for its internal air and fire tunnel, and is about 50% more efficient than the traditional three stone open fire. Tembea, with funding from a carbon project developer based in Europe, subsidizes the stove to only cost households 500 Kenya Shiling (less than 6 dollars). The saving groups function to help members pay for the stove, as well as to support members with financial and other socio-economic needs. Tembea also intends to train these groups to act as empowered grassroots unit to be able to lobby for their own interests in the government system in the near future.
As a carbon-financed project in the premier voluntary carbon market, this stove program is soon to benefit from carbon credits priced around 20 Euros per ton of carbon dioxide saved. One cook stove is estimated to save 1-2 ton a year, and the plan is to install 7, 200 stoves in a 7 year project life cycle. The math is looking good, only if everything goes well with the carbon registration and validation process with Gold Standard. It has a highly complex project set up, involving many stakeholders, monitoring and validation processes. It has been an assiduous journey to fulfill the various requirements demanded by the offset standards.
This is why you often hear high transaction costs associated with small scale carbon project (with many individual components) and a general lack of capacity to implement carbon-financed projects in Africa. Tembea’s collaboration with the European-based carbon developer therefore has a lot to offer in terms of capacity building for the whole continent. On the other hand, I also look into challenges, issues of equity, and even systemic pitfalls a carbon offset project like this faces, hence the effectiveness of it to address climate change and sustainable development. Whatever the term means. Carbon offset has good potential, but that’s the only solution.
Eight hours away from Tembea, in a place near the capital city Nairobi, another youth-led enterprise is doing something similar, but in a very different approach. Several days ago when I went back to Nairobi to renew my American visa, I had the chance to revisit Peter Thuo, the owner of GreenTech Inc. and director of Ruiru Youth Center for Empowerment Program. From the latter to the former, Peter has moved from raising awareness of HIV/AIDS, constructing efficient cook stoves, onto building biogas digestors, greenhouse for vegetables and energy briquette made of waste materials. For Peter, innovating keeps him burning and a social enterprise model is what works the best in his case.
And this is where REEN strives to come in to the exchange of ideas and expertise among these resourceful youth groups and give birth to new enterprises that will thrill in their particular environment. It is a REEN for Kenyans, for Africans and for all who are young, energetic, sympathetic and eager to meet the challenge of our world. It is the same energy that fuels my engagement with CUYCE/ YEP, as well as REEN. At the same time, I see many ways in which lessons can be learned from one enterprise to another, no matter where and who they are. People need to communicate with one another, no matter the region, tribe or color.
By now I could have started writing a book of my time in the middle of nowhere in this Kenya village, just to tell you how different life is here. Where I am with Tembea in one of the poorest regions in Kenya, electricity connection rate is around 2% and I am lucky to have water to shower in bucket. Half of the population in rural area lives under literally “1 dollar a day.” Half of the staff at Tembea has only high school degree and most are below the age of 25. For the past 8 years they have accomplished a list of social and environment projects with an inventory of local and international partners, with very limited resources. For most of them, personal computers and Internet are rare species and the round talks with the UN are still too remote and surreal.
In the past several months, I have been grateful on the receiving end of the hard work YEPers have engaged and delivered. For all of you have enlightened me to take a parallel path on another side of the planet. Everyone is doing fascinating work on your end. I wish to bring your more stories in the following days.
