Jean Marc Sika

After a long preparatory phase started early this year, the very first digester constructed with the facilitation of the National Domestic Biogas Programme in Burkina Faso (PNB-BF), has enter into function beginning of December 2009. This outcome is the first milestone for this national program which, in the strive of the African Biogas Partnership Programme (ABPP), with the collaboration of SNV/ Netherlands Development Organisation and HIVOS aims at increasing the number of family sized, quality biogas plants with 10,000 by the end of 2013 and to stimulate the emergence of a viable domestic biogas sector in the country in the long run. This programme is the first attempt to large scale domestic biogas dissemination not only in Burkina Faso but also in West Africa!

In the eighties, the country actively tried to promote the use of this renewable energy. Plants were of institutional type and most of the realizations were stand alone projects. Today, the only reminiscence of this past experience is the relative awareness of biogas in the country. The sector’s capacity is less than five digesters constructed every year with 100% financial support from donors.

Building quality bio-digester requires good knowledge and skills on the part of the constructor, the mason. Good functioning or performance of bio-digesters is associated with the selection of right size, choosing the right site for construction, selecting the construction materials and appliances to comply with the quality standards, constructing the components with strict adherence to the norms and ensuring effective operation and maintenance activities – all of which are the responsibilities of the mason. The mason has a very important role to play in effective functioning of a bio-digester. It is therefore important that the masons, responsible for all the works as mentioned above, have to be provided with a well-designed training and orientation program in order to become certified by the program. This to avoid untrained masons to taking over the market by constructing bio-digesters that may be cheaper, yet without meeting the quality standards and thus in the long run not serving the users.

To achieve its goal for large dissemination, the first challenge of the programme is then to create and embed the necessary capacities in local structures and in the institutional environment. In this line, PNB-BF will facilitate the gradual growth of biogas manpower through support to technical and vocational training institutes with a direct link to biogas sector development. In effect, for this first phase of the programme, PNB-BF planned to train about 300 masons for construction, dozens of supervisors for quality control and trainers of all partnering vocational training institutes.

Building quality bio-digester not only requires good knowledge and skills on the part of the mason, but also effective supervision of installation and post-installation by well trained supervisors. Safeguarding the quality of bio-digesters is only possible through formulation and enforcement of effective quality control mechanisms.

The first vocational training institute selected, Gabriel Taborin, was equipped with the knowledge and capacity to train masons and supervisors. This training has availed the country with first batch of Domestic biogas manpower. From 19th October to 6th November 2009, the first training session on biogas technology and market development aspects took place for 24 masons, 4 supervisors, 1 workshop technician and 2 trainers, lecturers at the Gabriel Taborin Technical School.
During the training, participants constructed, in the premises of the vocational training institute, the first plant. The training is directly coupled with a pilot phase, whereby each masons will build at least two digesters in selected families with close supervision, this being considered as a continuation of the training (On job training).

For this first training, PNB-BF benefitted from the active involvement and expertise one advisor from SNV Rwanda and one Rwanda Domestic Biogas technician.

Anaclet Ndahimana (SNV RE/Biogas Advisor) and Jean Marc Sika (HIVOS-ABPP team)