Back to contents

ENERGIA News Issue 3, July 1997

Diffusion of Biogas Technology: Development of Women in Al-Habeel Village

Thoraya A. Obaid and Mahmoud A. Saleh

Thoraya A. Obaid and Mahmoud A. Saleh sent in a long article describing a successful biogas project in a village in Yemen, which we present here in shortened form. The project was carried out by UN ESCWA with financing from Netherlands-Funds-in-Trust and UNIFEM, and was designed to help women not only to obtain a better, more healthy fuel, but to improve living conditions in the village in general. Many questions arise, as one reads this article, regarding what makes one project successful while another fails: we have posed some of these questions at the end of the article and invite readers to respond from their own experience.

Mansourit Al-Habeel: a typical village in southern Yemen

Al-Habeel village in Lahaj Governorate is located about 10 km from Al-Hota, the capital of Lahaj. This village consisted of two main sections, namely Al-Habeel and Mansourit Al-Habeel which were separated administratively during the course of the implementation of the series of biogas projects. The data provided in this part of the publication covers the greater Al-Habeel.

The village consists of scattered groups of houses, near which are located open animal sheds. It has 270 households totalling about 1500 persons, of which 70 households are located in Mansourit Al-Habeel. The area of land owned ranges between zero and 3.5 acres per family. The number of landless families totals 57. The animal holding in the village is about 0.2 animal units per person compared to 0.23 animal units per person for the overall rural sector in southern Yemen. About 16% of the families own more than 50% of the animals with the density of 2 animal units or more per family. An appreciable part of the village water is obtained from underground sources. Latrines of the village are connected to deep pits which pollute the underground water, thus constituting dangerous sanitary problems. The village had been recently supplied by electricity which is used only for lighting. Women have to walk distances of more than three or more kilometres for fuelwood and they are exposed to snake and scorpion bites. This fuelwood is burned directly in open stoves without grit or chimney for cooking, baking, and other domestic uses. The combustion in these stoves is incomplete, thus producing harmful smoke containing a considerable amount of toxic carbon monoxide, which accumulates near the stove and in the kitchen. Al-Habeel women also indicated that they dislike baking because it involves a high risk of burning their hands.

Women are also responsible for cleaning the animal sheds where the fodder is placed on the ground and eventually is mixed with animal manure. Since animals do not eat this mixture, a substantial part of the fodder is wasted. Also this mixture makes the cleaning of the sheds more difficult. The women are also responsible for collecting the dung which is not used as fertiliser because it usually contains large amount of seeds that grow unwanted grass. The women pile the animal manure outside the houses waiting for the annual rainfall to sweep it away. With the all-year round hot weather, these piles become a source of health hazard to all the community. Both the manual handling of the manure and the presence of the piles increase the health hazards affecting women and children in particular.

Al-Habeel women are also responsible for milking the cows. This activity which is supposed to be a source of health has the opposite affect, since women milk the cows in sheds with unpaved grounds amidst the dung which can not be cleaned out.

In addition, waste water in the village is drained around the houses, forming small ponds of stagnant waste water thus causing an additional source of pollution. The main source of pollution in the village is in fact organic waste, which consists of animal dung, human excreta and waste water from the households.

Why biogas technology?

Organic waste can be properly handled by introducing an integrated biogas system which includes a biogas digester, properly designed shed, simplified waste water treatment plant, and latrine, as demonstrated in the block diagram shown in the figure. A product of this waste management is a clean energy source to replace direct burning of biomass, seedless germ-free fertiliser which does not attract insects and flies and which can be used for increasing the fertility of the land and the green area in the village, more efficient use of fodder, and improved sanitary disposal facilities. The treated water, supplemented by the fertiliser, can be utilised to irrigate the newly formed home gardens. The local people can participate in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the biogas system, which is constructed of locally available materials.

The project itself

The project went through many phases which consisted of both surveys as well as actual field operations. The first phase consisted of a case study on the techno-economic and social aspects of the introduction of biogas technology in Southern Yemen. Three different designs were constructed in a test in order to select the most appropriate design for the local conditions. The cost effectiveness of each system in terms of the investment in the construction, returns from the gas and fertiliser outputs as compared to the conventionally used fuels and fertilisers was considered. A social assessment demonstrated the values and practices of the villagers especially women, regarding their acceptance of using an unfamiliar technology and using the biogas produced from animal manure and human excreta as a fuel for cooking and baking. It also indicated the social values related to the acquisition of skills by women once they are liberated from fuelwood collection and other hardship responsibilities.

The three biogas systems used, were Egyptian-Chinese, Borda and Indian designs. The Egyptian-Chinese design proved to be the most appropriate for the village conditions. Successful operation of the three models, and the enthusiasm of the villagers, moved the government to request ESCWA to pursue this activity further by implementing a pilot project in Mansourit Al-Habeel.

The participation of the local people in planning, monitoring, and assessing the activities of the project was considered a primary factor in adopting the technology and introducing social change especially to the conditions of women. This was translated operationally by the formation of a village committee composed of the local peoples’ organisations, including the General Federation of Yemeni Women, and representatives of the beneficiaries. This village committee undertook the promotion of objectives and activities of the project in the community, participation and formulation of detailed work plan, selection of beneficiaries, site selection for biogas plants, selection of labour force, determining the financial responsibilities of the beneficiaries, solving the problems arising from sharing the output of the multi-family digesters, monitoring the implementation of the extension programmes for women, and ensuring the provision of the necessary requirements from the village for the construction of biogas systems.

In order to assess the impact of the technology on the community at large, and women in particular, a base-line data survey of the village was undertaken. It addressed the families, heads of households, and women. The survey confirmed the conditions of rural as described above. In addition, it revealed that women were ready to acquire new skills and knowledge that would improve their lives and that of their families. It also indicated that the male heads of households welcomed the release of women from their difficult tasks, within and outside the home, and the utilisation of the time for education and improvement of family conditions.

Twenty one biogas digesters of the fixed dome Egyptian-Chinese type were constructed in Mansourit Al-Habeel serving 28 families out of 70 families of the village; they represent 40% of the villagers. Five digesters were community units serving more than one family and the remaining ones were family units. These twenty one units are in addition to the four constructed in Al-Habeel village in the test phase.

The digesters were constructed within an integrated biogas system consisting of: the digester, feeding chamber, outlet chamber, animal shed, wastewater treatment plant, simplified drip water irrigation system for the house gardens, simplified gas transportation network, modified stoves and ovens. In addition the kitchens and latrines were modified to fit the biogas system. The beneficiaries participated either in cash or in-kind in many aspects of the project. They contributed in cash about one third of the cost of the system or in-kind through work days equivalent to the same amount.

The female beneficiaries participated with commitment in the extension programme provided by the project. Initially the centre of the Local Defence Committee was provided for the extension activities in Al-Habeel village and later the programme was conducted in one of the homes of the villagers in Mansourit Al-Habeel itself. About 50 women from the village were introduced for the first time to basic life skills as literacy, health education, home economics, sewing, child care, poultry raising, vegetable gardening and the operation and simple maintenance of the biogas equipment inside the house.

A post-project survey to assess the impact of the introduction of BGT on the social and economic conditions of the beneficiaries, and of women in particular was undertaken during November 1991. However, one can draw some conclusions regarding the impact of the project on the village community based on the observations of ESCWA staff as they monitored the field operations.

Local impacts

In terms of the environmental conditions in the village, the piles of animal waste and the stagnant wastewater around the houses of the beneficiaries disappeared completely. Connecting the latrines directly to the digesters solved the sanitary disposal problem in the houses of the beneficiaries. The green areas around the houses have become more prominently visible in the village. These improved environmental conditions had direct impact on the quality of life of the villagers. The children have cleaner and safer areas to play. Improvement in the general health conditions of the community was witnessed.

Financially speaking, the villagers who used to buy kerosene or firewood to supplement their energy needs now save money by the use of the biogas. Part of the fertiliser is used in the home gardens, while the major part is transported to the fields after drying and have replaced the purchase of chemical fertilisers, and increased the productivity of the land and safeguarded the farmers and the land itself from the adverse effects of chemicals. In addition, the home gardens irrigated by the treated wastewater and enriched by the fertiliser started producing fodder for the animals, vegetables and fruits for household use, thus bringing further savings to the budgets of the beneficiaries. By eating clean, green and abundantly available fodder, the animals in the newly constructed sheds appear healthier and fatter thus producing more milk.

Besides the saving of family income, the economic benefits of the project also included creating employment opportunities during construction for the local labour in the village and creating working opportunities for the female extension workers from the village. The project also assisted the beneficiaries in generating income from selling excess fertilisers, animals and animal products such as milk.

Women are the real beneficiaries from this project simply because they are responsible for many of the difficult tasks that are alleviated by the technology. They are relieved from collecting and carrying fuelwood, thus saving them the long and arduous transportation of the fuelwood along with minimising their exposure to poisonous bites. Also the time spent in baking and cooking decreased thus allowing more time for them to take care of their families and to acquire new skills. During the cooking and baking process, women are not exposed anymore to the smoke from woodstoves and ovens, thus minimising susceptibilities to respiratory and eye diseases and burning their hands. By not handling the manure and milking the cows in a cleaner environment, the women and children are spared intestinal diseases. Also their children are drinking cleaner and healthier milk.

Through the extension programme, the women began to read and write, acquire new values and skills regarding cleanliness, home management, nutrition, child care, personal care, in addition to productive skills of poultry raising and home gardening.

The financial analysis of the biogas system revealed that the simple rate of return on the investment can reach 17.2% based on the international prices and 8.4% based on the local prices (which include high taxation) of the building materials. In southern Yemen, a project is included in the national plan, once its components are exempted from taxation. Here lies the importance of the awareness of the decision-makers of the real benefits of this technology and their decision to include such a project in the national plan.

Wider impacts

The benefits are however not confined to the one village where the pilot project took place. The project had a direct impact nationally through its clearly identified outputs. The awareness among decision makers at the national level regarding this renewable energy technology grew to such an extent that the introduction of this technology was included in the national plan for the socio-economic development of the country. A trained team of engineers, technicians and skilled labour was formed as the nucleus for the diffusion of this technology in other parts of the country. Another team of field data collectors was trained to conduct surveys and a third team of extension workers was trained to implement extension programmes in other villages. This is very significant for the future spread of biogas technology in Yemen.

Thoraya A. Obaid, works as a deputy executive secretary for UNESCWA and Mahmoud A. Saleh, is a regional advisor on energy, also with UNESCWA. For more information on biogas in Yemen, which was also reported on in ENERGIA News issue 1, December 1996, please contact:
Mahmoud S. Saleh or Thoraya A. Obaid, ESCWA, P.O. Box 927115, Amman, Jordan; Tel. +962.6.694351, Fax +962.6.694981/686128/694982