NAIROBI, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Two start-ups from Kenya and Zambia were on Wednesday declared winners of the 2019 Ashden Award that seek to reward organizations on the frontline of green energy revolution.
Zambia's Renewable Energy Efficiency Program which is funded by Beyond the Grid Fund Zambia and Kenya's Sistema.bio that is affiliated with Clean Cooking Alliance, bagged this year's edition of Ashden awards for promoting uptake of green energy innovations.
Harriet Lamb, Ashden's CEO said that home-grown green innovations have proved effective in transforming livelihoods of Africa's rural communities grappling with negative impacts of climate change.
Lamb said that sustaining the deployment of green energy solutions to Africa's low income households demand policy support and innovative financing.
The Renewable Energy Efficiency Program of Zambia has connected about 116,000 households to clean energy sources while stimulating economic growth in rural and peri-urban areas.
It has been offering financial incentives to renewable energy companies to enable them connect off-grid households in rural Zambia and aims to hit one million target by 2021.
On its part, Sistema.bio that has enlarged its footprint in Kenya and across the eastern African region, is behind creation of an innovative and affordable biogas system that turns animal waste into cleaner cooking fuels.
Cedrick Todwell, commercial director for Sistema.bio said that its flagship bio-digester whose retail price is 89,000 Kenya shillings (about 890 U.S Dollars), is able to produce both the cleaner fuels and organic fertilizer for rural households.
"Farmers can pay through installments for the biodigester and other appliances required to cook food using biogas," said Todwell, adding that access to cleaner cooking fuels has enhanced climate resilience among rural communities.
