Talk about small loans making a big difference!
Evans in Kenya raised $150 for this machine to make environmentally friendly biomass cooking briquettes for low-income households in Nairobi, Kenya. In these neighborhoods, the traditional cooking fuel is charcoal made from cutting down trees. The use of charcoal fuel harms the environment by destroying native forests, and long-term exposure to its fumes harms people’s health.
Evans’ briquettes are made from agricultural by-products and recycled materials such as used paper, rice husks, sawdust and banana leaves, and he prices them affordably. Demand is strong, and his main bottleneck is production capacity.
Before the loan, he could make only 500 briquettes a day using manual methods. The machine quadrupled his production: now, he is producing 2,000 briquettes every day!
Evans is using the profits to open briquette outlets in more neighborhoods to reduce transportation costs – creating employment while saving trees and improving air quality for the households that use his innovative product.
You may learn more about Evans’ business at his profile page: https://www.zidisha.org/microfinance/loan/kencoffee/6891.html
