Domestic biogas is seen as an avant-garde to boost rural incomes through increase in time rural people spend on generating incomes.

According to Jean De Matha Ouedraogo, the country director Netherlands Development organisation (SNV) Rwanda, many people spend much time in collecting firewood, crop waste which hinders their investment time in income generating activities.

"Collecting these resources consumes time that could instead be invested more productively in accessing education or in income generating activities. Access to adequate, affordable and sustainable energy services is necessary for improvement of livelihoods for human beings from perspective of health climate change and economic development,” he said.

The project seen as a triplet solution in reduction of resource depletion, health related cataclysms and climate change will also help in providing energy where electricity is far fetched dream.

"We are putting efforts in using biogas so that people who don’t have electricity can cook and light,” Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, the Governor of the Eastern Province noted at the commissioning of a biogas plants in Ngoma district, late last week.

Ouedraogo also added that "Collecting firewood harms the environment through land degradation and desertification, bring biomass indoors causes a number of health problems.”

The SNV boss illustrated that domestic biogas has demonstrated successful effort on technology transfer, knowledge development and south-south collaboration through capacity building.

"We are providing access to energy benefiting especially women, children and older people, generating business and employment opportunities and reducing the risk of global warming.”

Dr. Kirabo Kacyira echoed the need to scale up the use of biogas to promote proper sanitation and hygiene and improvement in standards of living to realize sustainable rural development.

Anaclet Ndahimana, the Renewable Energy Advisor at SNV said that over 1,300 domestic biogas plants with a one plant per household ratio have been build countywide.

"We are now looking at building what we call commercial biogas plants which can supply schools, hospitals and SMEs,” he said.

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