Clean Energy for Rural Livelihood, Education and Health

Established around 1948 the Vipya Plantations has been the glory of the Nothern Region in Malawi covering 50,000 hectares and being the pride of the biggest manmade forest in the whole of Southern Africa. Nkhatabay communities live within this beautiful scenery which is now deeply deforested because of tree harvesting and also charcoal selling. According to Global Forest Watch, In 2010, Malawi had 1.39Mha of natural forest, extending over 12% of its land area. In 2021, it lost 14.7kha of natural forest, equivalent to 5.21Mt of CO₂ emissions. In this Nkhata Bay had the most tree cover loss at 77.7kha compared to an average of 7.75kha. The Vipya plantation is in danger of further depletion. 

The communities live 30kms away from the national grid with some community members who have never seen or had a test of what clean energy means. This indicates that their life solely depends on the same trees from the Vipya Plantations which is being depleted against a growing community growth rate of 3.22%.  Life is not the same for the services in the community where health posts, schools and trading centers have no any form of electricity and the hope of connection within the business sense of those managing the national grid is lost. Thus making it a community without hope. 

Far fetched is the hope of this connection because Malawi itself is among the lowest in accessing electricity. According to the World Bank, Malawi has a very low national electrification rate, estimated at 12.4%, making it the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, with only 12% of households connected to the grid. In rural areas, the electrification rate is even lower, at 2% (World Bank, 2020). According to JICA (2018), Malawi's energy sector is characterized by low levels of electrification, high reliance on biomass for energy, and a lack of investment in renewable energy technologies. 

Urgent need is required that the education facilities have access to clean energy to help the little girl who one time desires to be a nurse and serve the very community she is living in. The dream still shuttered because there is no electricity to serve the very sick grandmother who requires to have a life support machine. Where will the good breath come from when her father has sold all trees as charcoal to support her dream of being a nurse? where will food system support come from to help her mother cook her food when rain has stopped coming as before because the trees are cut? An innovation is required to solve multiple problem with one solution within the Lwafwa Community.

The innovation is called Accelerating Access of Renewable Energy in Smallholder Agriculture (AARESA). AARESA concept is addressing energy access, equity, quality and efficiency by providing locally made micro hydro electric energy systems for productive use. These locally made micro hydro electric energy systems for productive use by using 12 of the HT Hydro models.

The concept of  operation of HT hydro models rely on the change of potential energy of water which changes to kinetic energy as it flow to lower levels in a pipe or open flume and then changed again to mechanical energy through turbines and lastly into electricity through electricity generators. In order to install and operate an HT hydro model following this concept, water is diverted from the main river course through construction of weirs across the river course and then diverting it into a fore bay tank using an water canal or pipe. Water from a for bay tank is taken to a power house from where it drives an HT power equipment. The generated power is taken to the point of consumption through wires. Depending on the length of the required power transmission wires, voltage step up and step down transformers may be used in order to reduce power loss. 

Then any piece of equipment using single, two or three phase power requirements may be used. For commercial use some of the operations that may be supported include machines for agro-processing, cooling, grinding, milling, packaging and many others. Power is also used in health care for lighting during night services, storage of vaccines in refrigerators and for health education. In schools, electricity is used increasing hours of studies amongst pupils, aid in e-learning and preparations of teaching materials by teachers.

Video of a Maize Mill in one of the areas-  https://youtu.be/-BPc9KIIocs

(Copy and paste the URL)

Since these hydro power systems or models are locally made, they are cheaply found in Malawi. Training on machine operation and maintenance is also very easy. These machines have a life span of more than 30 years.The three common hydro power models of operation include: domestic model, village model, business or enterprise model. 

Under domestic model, the system is owned by one or few households and power is mainly used for domestic activities such lighting, cooking, refrigeration, phone charging etc. Power may also be used for very small scale businesses at household level, such as saloons, barbershop, welding and fabrication, water pumping for domestic and irrigation etc.

Under village model, the system is mainly operating as a socio enterprise model. Ownership is by a particular community, usually at group village headman level. The community elects a committee, usually called Electricity Users Committee (EUC) that runs the project for given period of time.

Under enterprise model, the facility may be owned by an individual or a group of people, the facility is being operated for profit. Under this model, the facility generates power for commercial purposes. 

T/A Kadunduli within the Vipya Plantations has a population of more than 286,956. The target area for the project is Lwafwa within this area. Lwafwa (common stem word for death among Bantu Languages in Africa) has something to talk about many deaths at another point around this area due to unfavorable conditions, due to lack of medication and ignorance resulting from none existence of schools. The innovation is to change this past history with the hope of their own natural endowment.

Target within this area are 350 households, 3 health posts, 3 primary schools and a trading center, 2 manufacturing facilities and an irrigation scheme Lwafwa benefitting 150 subsistence farming who would like to take agriculture as a business. 

As per models he, the households are to use for both lighting their houses and cooking therefore moving away from the charcoal and firewood being used now. The health posts are to use it for both treatment and storage of medicine. The schools for teaching and learning, trading centres for business, manufacturing for processing and servicing the community needs, and the irrigation station for both irrigation and storage of produce as a shelf life longevity process. 

Here is the experience and what is being done already.https://mzitimalawi.org/hydrop...

Mzuzu Institute of Innovation and Technology - MZITI HYDRO-POWER (mzitimalawi.org)

9 houses are now benefitting and one maize mill benefitting more than 2000.  There is need for scaling up as above.

Calls for extension of our work on the ground to reach out to the many disserving souls require this external help. What is required for such an extension are resources to take us through. The touch of the vulnerable and far reaching attainment of SDGs;

Goal 1: No poverty
Goal 2: Zero hunger
Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing
Goal 4: Quality education
Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
Goal 9:Industry, innovation and infrastruture
Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
Goal 13: Climate Action
Is the call for our action to leave no one behind.

Understanding Innovation based on  ISO 56000:2020 where it is understood as  "a new or changed entity realizing or redistributing value" or else being defined as practical implementation of ideas resulting to an introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services for those that existed, the Lwafwa Hydro Electricity project is beyond one. The problem of deforestation unless people are provided with a better solution to their livelihood, the Vipya Plantation will continue loosing its glory. The Malawi Government has had several approaches to preservation of these trees but none has worked. The extreme solution was the use of the Military, however it was not sustainable. The concession and community co-management of the forest resource has neither yielded any value. It is only upon people seeing the benefit of the natural endowment by established enterprises from the very far fetched service of electricity which they have never had that will yield a value. Below is a value chain service provision.

Innovation Value Chain

Once an MHP is installed, beneficiaries of this MHP are automatically made to focus on ecological restoration which results into resilient micro hydro water sheds which also results into robust water sources, fewer droughts and more rains for agriculture. This makes an MHP to be a best contributor towards food, water, business, health and energy nexus. Ultimately development to the area. 

The impact goals for the next year is to see a natural regeneration of 2000 adina microcephala hardwood trees along the banks of Lwafwa river that supplies water to Lwafwa MHP. The other impact goals shall seek to see introduction of e-learning to 1800 pupils, improved under-five clinic service delivery to an extent where vaccines in 3 health posts will have refrigerators to support 8500 under five children, to connect 350 house holds, 4 value addition facilities,18 local businesses to Lwafwa MHP and to increase power generation from 75KVA to 200KVA. While the impact goals for the next five years would be to connect up to 5000 customers, interconnect to the grid and generate up to 2 MW of power.

Basing on this understanding, the MHP that people bordering Viphya forest have developed for themselves, they will have increased climate resilience of water, energy and livelihood nexus. It is projected that after few years of operation of the project operation, the vegetation in the forest will regenerate there by producing more timber for building walls of houses without using burnt bricks. Regeneration of forest cover will automatically bring more water electricity generation which will be used for these smallholder farmers to engage in value addition of their agricultural products. Their dairy products, fruits and vegetables will have increased shelf life. More rains resulting from regenerated forests cover will help smallholder farmers to upgrade from subsistence to commercial farming. 

The Lwafwa MHP will be a basis of MHPs revolution in Malawi. This is because, in comparison with solar PVs or lanterns, MHPs works 24/7 without batteries and this makes them to have reduced systems costs, low capital, low operation and maintenance costs, lower tariffs and pay back periods.

THEORY OF CHANGE

A self-sustaining  resilient health and knowledgeable community capable of reserving the environment for both today and tomorrow.

 Theory of Change- Summarised

The core technology that drives our solution is local manufacturing technology. More than 75% of the equipment and components used in our solution are locally manufactured with local expertise. Civil works structures are locally build using local artisans. Turbines (Pelton, Cross flow, Propeller), steel penstock and water gates are locally manufactured using local available and conventional machines.

https://mzitimalawi.org/hydrop...

The project being a cooperative has a diversified approach and bridging of inequalities. The socioeconomic dimension is fused in such a way that the ownership belongs to the community which gives them the decision making sphere in what affect them. The empowerment of the community for decision making and sustainability of the innovation starts with the civic education that is made and also the involvement in the actual work being done. The gender dimension is considered at every level where women representation is considered. The innovation intention cannot be realized if no women is involved because much of the output is focused on daily life of a women among which is agriculture, food security, home management, and businesses. Women are given the 40 percent representation. Age dimensions is also looked into with youth representation even among the women. Our innovation development team has also ensured such representation where besides innovator and support team there are interns from the Malawi College of Accountancy of which over 40 percent are female. 

The business model that we have adopted is the cooperative business model.  This is the best hydro power business model that has worked well in many countries of the world, including Nepal, Indonesia and Afghanistan. This model ensures good governance and effective decision making structures. 

For us to achieve our goals, we will need well trained people in the fields of feasibility studies, site assessment, engineering, financial management and project management. We will also need some funds in order to set up electricity generating facilities. above all else we will need well protected watersheds to continuous flow of water throughout the tear.

Our systems will be build in accordance with the accepted international standards. We will need to work with Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority on issues of registration of the facility, with National Resources Board of Malawi on issues of Water Rights, with the department of Energy on issues of policy and with Renewable  Energy Industries Association of Malawi on issues networking. On international level, we will need to continue working with Hydro Empowerment Network on issues of capacity building and information sharing.

Our key activities will be site identification, conduction of feasibility studies, project components planning, resource mobilization, project setting up, electricity generation, sales of power and training of stuff and beneficiaries.

Our core project element will be the setting up of robust hydro electricity generating systems which will be producing clean and  affordable electricity.

For our project to prosper to higher levels, we will need to communicating with different stakeholders. Our main channels of communication will be meetings, newsletters, website, emails, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

Our target beneficiaries are rural poor farmers who have no hope for electricity from the national grid. We will also connect power to community health posts, schools, market places, and in future we expect to connect our generating facilities to the national grid.

We will ensure to provide clean and affordable electricity to the rural masses, in Malawi and neighboring countries. Unlike what is currently happening with the national grid, we will be connecting our power lines to customers within days while the national grid sometimes takes up to 5 years before a customer is connected.

Our systems are of different models, for example, one model that catters for around 400 customers may cost around US$450,000 on average, but these are site specific and the cost of generating 1kW is equivalent to US$1800.

When our facilities grow in terms of size in power generation and connectivity base, we expect to increase our power generation more than 10MW per power plant. 

This being a cooperative with three levels of operation where there is Direct consumer, business to business and then business to social enterprise, there will be some cost contribution from these three levels with differentiated pricing that will enable the enterprise provide required service at the same time sustain itself to possibly grow. The social enterprises like hospitals and schools are a great priority if possible can get the zero value depending on whether businesses can subsidies the operations of the hospitals without compromising their own operations. This being the case caution will also have to be taken in order to avoid free ridding of else the hospital should have some threshold of consumption fail ing which. 

https://youtu.be/oD2kwuLRkO0 (Copy and paste in the URL)