Agriculture
LIFE Builders Nigeria, an NGO, says it has trained 40 farmers on low carbon farming techniques to support the efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change in the country.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Mrs Grace Oluwatoye, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
“We have so far trained about 40 farmers on low carbon farming techniques this year.
“We explored simple and affordable technologies to reduce fossil fuel used by some of the over 67 per cent of four communities using kerosene, firewood and charcoal for cooking.
“The specific objective of this training is to support the efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change,’’ Oluwatoye said.
She said that over one million audiences were reached through a phone-in radio weekly programme on sustainable farming techniques.
Oluwatoye said that her organisation also mobilised male and female farmers to cultivate moringa plant to generate income to sustain their livelihood in Ijaye community of Akinyele Local Government of Oyo State.
According to her, the farmers produced leaves and stems as raw materials for the production of moringa beverage, bio gel and briquette.
She recalled that Life Builders Nigeria was supported by the Global Environmental Facility Small Grant Programme with the grant of 100, 000 dollars to execute the project.
Oluwatoye added that the project was titled: “Adaptation to Climate Change through Biogel Production from Moringa Oleifera in Oyo State’’.
She said that the purpose of the project was to prevent rural communities in Akinyele Local Government Area from using fuel wood for cooking to reduce carbon emissions.
She said that it also aimed at reducing carbon emission because of the negative impact on the human health and the environment.
“In addition, we also intend to enhance jobs creation, poverty reduction and environmental conservation.
“That is why we are producing suitable energy source for domestic consumption for communities in Akinyele through provision of moringa biogel for cooking,’’ she said.
Explaining the production processes, Oluwatoye said that moringa stems should be freshly peeled before putting into crushing machine to crush into shaft.
“The shaft will be pressed by the machine to mechanically extract the juice which will be taken into the incubator for three days to ensure fermentation.
“After that, it would be distilled to produce ethanol,’’ she said.
According to her, some gelling chemicals will be added to the ethanol before it can be used in the stove for cooking.
“Scientific research is still ongoing to identify best cellulose reducing enzymes to produce bio ethanol on a commercial level from the Moringa plant,’’ Oluwatoye said.
-NAN
BE
– Dec. 12, 2018 @ 17:20 GMT |
Tags: NGO trains farmers on low carbon farming techniques
