Village Projects International

In Sub Saharan Africa, there are many villages which do not have electricity now and do not have prospects to join the electric power distribution grid in the immediate future. Lights for reading and working in the evenings, for both children and adults, cell phone charging capacity, and other common uses of electrical power would benefit the people of these villages as it benefits us all.

There are household-scale photo-voltaic systems that are appropriate for use in these villages. Energy from sun light is captured and stored in chargeable compact 12 volt battery systems. This energy is then used after dark with efficient high radiance light bulbs, and other appliances.

Even when these villages eventually join the electrical grid, their experience with their solar electrical systems will serve as a proof of the practicality of renewable energy and be a worthwhile experience from which they and their regional and national leaders can learn.

A companion problem: Inefficiently Burning Stoves

Many of the villages lacking electrical power rely on burning wood and charcoal in locally made or purchased stoves for cooking and heating. The more fuel they consume, the more time, labor, and money that must be spent procuring it. Finding and gathering fuel often means removing or stripping trees and other plants which undermines the health of the environment around the villages. Fuel gatherers, usually women, find themselves going further and further from the village in their search.

Also, many of these stoves are used indoors. They emit gases and fumes that are not healthy. The more efficient the stoves, the less they emit and the less they cause respiratory ailments in children and adults.

Villagers can produce new fuel efficient stoves when provided with the design and training.

Linking Stove Fuel Efficiency with Funding Solar Power: Carbon Credits

There are clear reasons for villagers to want electricity and better stove efficiency. It is possible to finance the purchase of solar electrification systems using the village production of fuel efficient stoves. The fact that the new stoves will reduce the carbon emissions can be certified. The certified carbon credits can then be sold on the voluntary emission reduction market. The funds raised through this sale will then be used to import and install the solar electrical systems in homes and other buildings in the village.

Prior experience with Carbon Emission Reduction for financing Solar Electrification

The primary experience with this program has been in Eritrea. In Eritrea, it was a collaborative effort of the Eritrean Development Foundation, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Energy Research and Training Center, and volunteer staff from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of California. They have worked with dozens of villages and have learned many lessons that can now be applied in the ICSEE implementation of this unique sustainable funding plan.

The ICSEE and ZAWCO project in Tumbatu Island

Working with the people who have piloted this project in Eritrea and Ghana, the ICSEE, in cooperation with the Zanzibar Women’s Corporation is launching this electrification program with the two villages on the island of Tumbatu, off the northwest coast of Unguja. Initial contacts, familiarization with the electrical units and stove designs and agreements will be established on November of 2007. Benefits for the villages should be occurring by the spring of 2008.

Expansion to other regions where the ICSEE works

Once the procedures and practices are fully worked out, the ICSEE will be able to expand the project into other areas of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and in other countries where it has partners.

Village Projects International philosophy and range of projects

Village Projects International, (VPI), a program of the ICSEE, forms partnerships with grassroots NGOs and organizations throughout Africa and the developing world to give rural communities access to carbon and development credit to finance community-based projects that improve their standard of living.

VPI monitors, evaluates and verifies carbon and other development credits for rural communities and sells them direct to retail consumers who want to partner with rural developing country communities to make the world a better place.

For VPI, the key to partnering with rural communities is maintaining accountability and effectiveness with a maximum of transparency and a minimum of overhead costs. VPI does this is by implementing projects step by step, and checking and monitoring progress of both its partners and the communities with each step of implementation. When visitors to our site or buyers of our credits purchase development credits from a particular community, VPI attempts to provide full, transparent information on the projects and the project partners is provided. VPI provides information that includes both the details of project implementation and the details of the agreements and relationships that VPI develops with its partners. This way, the purchasers can develop maximum confidence in the credits that VPI sells and check the veracity of the projects and information so they can know their funds are supporting effective local actions that better community life.

For more on the general philosophy and program of VPI visit the VPI website.

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