| Title |
Charcoal Distribution Chain in Kisumu, Kenya |
| ID_Doc |
67852 |
| Authors |
Dato, N; Long, A; Sam, A; Santiago, A; Margot, H; Gershenson, J |
| Title |
Charcoal Distribution Chain in Kisumu, Kenya |
| Year |
2019 |
| Published |
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| Abstract |
Charcoal is a major bioenergy source in Kenya but has become significantly more expensive in recent times due to the logging ban placed by the Kenyan government. The ban an ineffective but tardy solution to the country's fast depleting forest halted local charcoal production and shifted the business to neighboring countries. This paper outlines the charcoal market, it's distribution channels and alternative cooking fuels used in Kisumu, Kenya as explored by the GreenBriq team. GreenBriq is a social venture that plans to undertake two consequential problems in Western Kenya; the lack of a cheap sustainable cooking fuel and the overpopulation of water hyacinth on shorelines of Lake Victoria. GreenBriq resolves both problems by coupling them and creating water hyacinth briquettes which are designed to be used as a cheap cooking fuel. The team travelled to Kenya in May 2018 to test hypotheses made while outlining their business model and to conduct surveys that would aid the understanding of the charcoal market within Kisumu, Kenya. The team discovered the three players that facilitate distribution: the suppliers who import and/or export from Uganda, the brokers they sell to in Kisumu and the market retailers that sell to the consumer. The transportation of charcoal has become difficult due to the ban and costly in terms of unofficial tariffs demanded by custom officers and other regulators. The losses fall primarily on retailers and ultimately the end users. Other alternative fuels produced from charcoal dust and made into briquettes have failed to take large shares of the market due lack of consistency in supply, inability to meet demand, and lack of brand popularity in the market which can be accredited to their chosen channels of distribution. The goal is for GreenBriq to use the current distribution chain to sell and distribute water hyacinth briquettes in order to market the fuel appropriately and gain acceptance. |
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