Small-scale dairy farmers can install adjustable plastic biogas digeters on loans, which are repaid in installments of up to 24 months.

GesiShamba Biogas Systems Coordinator George Mwangi said the flexible terms allow for farmers to pay as little as Sh3,600 per month for the smallest digester  of two to three cows capacity.

“The programme targets farmers who cannot raise the whole amount at once, but still need this gas in cooking and other domestic uses,” he said.

There are three sets of the plastic digesters, whose prices and monthly installments vary. The down payment for the 24 months loans is uniform, Sh15,000, for the Medium, Large and X-large sizes.

The Medium size, which can process cow dung from two or three cows, requires Sh3,600 monthly installments.  For those who can pay the amount in five months, they deposit Sh40,000 and remit Sh8,500 in installments.

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For the Large and X-large, the monthly installment is Sh4,700 and Sh6,500 respectively for the 24month repayment plan.

Twelve-month repayment plan is allowed too.

The medium capacity digester can save a family of six between Sh18,000 and Sh20,000 spent in buying commercial cooking gas per year.

The amount of gas produced, Mwangi said, cooks for four to five hours non-stop in two burners running consecutively. The amount of dung required is 30kilos mixed with 30 litres of water.

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In Nairobi, the cost of refilling a six-kilo gas cylinder is about Sh950. 

Damacline Kemunto, a Nairobi resident who has a family of five, uses the same gas for about 20 days. That means she requires between 19 and 20 six-kilogramme cylinders a year. Nineteen of them cost Sh18,050-if the price is constant  at Sh950.

GesiShamba helps farmers change the digesters for bigger or smaller ones to meet the size of their livestock.

For instance if one had the X-large biodigester for seven cattle and the stock reduces to two, the organisation replaces the X-large for the medium one.

Concrete or stone digesters are rendered obsolete when the number of cows cannot meet the capacity required.

PHOTO: Courtesy of GesiShamba.

Mwangi can be reached on +254723114472.