Chronicle Editor
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
MORE than 1 600 villagers are set to benefit from a bio-gas digester project that the Zibagwe Rural District Council has rolled out to protect the environment and counter the effects of climate change.
The rural district council has initiated the project to protect its forests and natural resources as it intensifies climate adaptation projects. A total of 1 650 people are anticipated to benefit. The biogas digester programme comes at a time when the rural authority has seen increased deforestation in the rural communities which has also resulted in increased carbon emissions, which impedes on the fight against climate change.
Dubbed the Go-Green, Go-Blue project, the project entails the growth of natural forests to accumulate and harvest carbon credits for sale to green industries. Zibagwe RDC chief executive officer Mr Farayi Machaya said the rural authority was dedicated to reducing the cutting down of trees as communities search for firewood.
“Council is taking strides towards participating in forest preservation activities in line with SDG13 on climate action. Our technical team is currently producing maps for forests to participate in the Go-Green, Go-Blue project,” said Mr Machaya.
According to Mr Machaya, the project will benefit local communities in more ways than one.
“Proceeds from sale of carbon credits go directly to the participating communities who will be assisted by the council to venture into various socio-economic projects including road rehabilitation, construction of schools, clinics, procurement of ambulances, among other projects that the community will identify,” he said.
A total of 1650 people from across the district’s 33 wards are going to benefit from the biodigester programme.
“As the rate of deforestation is increasing in Zibagwe RDC, communities of the biogas digester will eliminate the use of firewood. There is also reduction of carbon emissions as biogas has a lower carbon footprint,” said Mr Machaya.
Protection of the girl child who is usually at the receiving end of climate change is a major priority for the council.
“Young girls and women walk long distances to fetch firewood and there is a lot of physical strain and pian. They are also vulnerable to such things as sexual abuse. We therefore seek to make life a little easy for them,” he said.
Above all biogas digesters provide a clean source of energy.
“Biogas provides a cleaner source of energy than firewood as no toxic smoke and soot is produced that can lead to health problems. The bio fertilizer can also act as a soil conditioner due to its texture allowing better water holding capacity therefore it improving yields,” he said.
Mr Machaya said the project would see each of the 33 wards benefitting from the project. The development comes at a time when the country and the world at large has declared war against climate change which has caused distorted weather patterns and compromising agricultural yields in the process.
Bongani Ndlovu