Carbon Credits Serve up Clean Cooking Options for West African Farmers

This Story was first published on the World Bank website in March 2018.

Over three billion people worldwide cook with charcoal or wood, causing polluted air that contributes to millions of premature deaths every year. A programme that helps farmers install biodigesters in their homes in Burkina Faso recently just issued its first UN-certified carbon credits, expanding cleaner cooking in rural areas.

The National Biodigester Programme(PNB-BF) in Burkina Faso overall objective, which builds on the results and experiences of the African Biogas Partnership Programme, is to come to a permanent, market based biodigester sector in Burkina Faso. The programme aims to reach 35,000 rural households.

Cooking with biogas generated by the digesters – installed by private companies supported through the World Bank’s Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev) – reduces this pollution, while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions, combatting deforestation, and improving the livelihoods of farmers.

Cooking with biogas cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions, and the World Bank is helping the programme monetize its carbon credits. The credits are purchased by Ci-Dev, creating a revenue stream that helps the programme be financially sustainable. That money is used to help bring down the cost of the biodigesters, extend the product warranty, and cover training costs.