Biogas Dissemination Scale-Up Programme (NBPE+)

The Biogas Dissemination Scale-Up Programme (NBPE+) is a public-private partnership at federal, regional, and district levels, funded by the European Union and the Government of Ethiopia. SNV plays a critical role as the overall programme manager, providing technical assistance for implementation. The Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) executes the programme across nine regions: Afar, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, Oromia, Sidama, SNPPR, Somali, and Tigray, on behalf of the Government of Ethiopia.

The challenge

Since 2017, the NBPE+ programme has been instrumental in advancing universal access to clean cooking in Ethiopia. By installing biodigesters, NBPE+ has enhanced the livelihoods and health of rural households while reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. The programme has laid the groundwork for a sustainable biodigester sector, with continued support and funding from the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) planned for 2024 and beyond.

Results and impacts

NBPE+ has achieved significant results and impacts, including:

• Improved living standards: Enhanced the quality of life for over 25,000 rural households across nine regions in Ethiopia through the promotion and adoption of biodigesters.

• Positive impact on 135,000 people: Provided reliable access to clean energy, sanitation, and bio-slurry, an affordable and effective organic fertilizer.

• Reduced indoor air pollution: Over 95% of households reported significant reductions in indoor smoke, respiratory problems, diseases, and eye issues.

• Time savings: Saved two hours of cooking time daily, allowing households to allocate time to academic and productive activities.

• Sustainable use of bioslurry: 87% of biodigester owners use bioslurry sustainably, increasing crop yields and improving income generation. Over 20,000 hectares of land are cultivated using bioslurry annually.

• Employment creation: Generated employment for over 1,700 people, with an increase in the number of active private manufacturers and distributors of biodigester appliances.

• Reduced biomass exploitation: Saved more than 100,000 tons of fuelwood annually, reducing the over-exploitation of biomass cover.

• Greenhouse gas emissions reduction: Annually reduced more than 100,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Productive use of biogas: Successfully piloted and promoted the productive use of biogas, with over 20 medium-scale digesters operational with productive use of energy (PUE) biogas appliances.

• Strengthened policy framework: Included biogas topics on the Ethiopian Clean Cooking Alliance (ECCA) agenda and established three regional bio-slurry platforms.

The National Biogas Programme of Ethiopia

The NBPE+ programme builds on the successes of the National Biogas Programme of Ethiopia (NBPE), implemented since 2009 in four regions, funded by the governments of the Netherlands and Ethiopia. The second phase of NBPE (2013) was part of the Africa Biogas Partnership Programme, with Hivos as the fund manager and SNV providing technical assistance. By the end of 2016, the first and second phases of NBPE had supported the installation of over 20,699 biodigesters. Combined with the contributions of NBPE+, Ethiopia has installed over 45,000 biodigesters to date.