Studies on Prospects and Challenges of Uptake of Domestic Bio-gas Technology (The case of SNNPR, ETHIOPIA)

Abstract

The rate of uptake of domestic biogas technology in Ethiopia, particularly in SNNPR, was very sluggish despite numerous benefits derived from biogas technology and the country‘s huge technical potential. Mass dissemination of biogas technology in Ethiopia was almost non- existent before the implementation of NBPE in 2008. Only 104 biogas digesters were installed in different parts of SNNPR in the period between 1976 and 2008. Though improvements in mass dissemination have been seen after the implementation of NBPE, only 1.34 % of the potential is tapped regionally. Of the 152,000 potential households in the region, installation of 2043 domestic biogas digesters had become reality up to the end of 2013. This paper reviews the prospects and challenges of the uptake of domestic biogas technology in SNNPR, Ethiopia. The study was conducted by surveying non-beneficiary households, the private sectors (BCEs, appliance suppliers and manufacturers), MFIs and governmental and non-governmental organizations from four woredas of the region in which NBPE is under implementation. The willingness of prospect households in investing biogas digester installations, the challenge faced by farmers in covering up front costs for digester installation, role and challenges of private and micro finance sectors, the commitment of government and the participation of and challenges faced by the stakeholders in supporting the biogas sector were the major areas of investigation. The findings of this research show that there are prospects that could favour the mass dissemination of the technology. Among the major prospects, the international context, the existence of huge technical potential for mass adoption of the technology, the government‘s commitment in supporting the deployment of renewable energy technologies, the availability of MFIs, and the development of infrastructure are identified as the enabling factors for quick and mass dissemination of the Page 13 technology. As against the prospects in favour of the dissemination effort, there remain several challenges retarding the dissemination process and resulted in low level development of the biogas sector. Low level awareness of the people, need for high investment cost for plant installation and the associated financial shortage, weak private sector participation, wrong dissemination strategies, and limited participation and support of stakeholders are the major challenges faced by the biogas sector in SNNPR.