Sydney Mubaiwa
MIDLANDS BUREAU CHIEF

KWEKWE – Zibagwe Rural District Council (RDC) plans to construct community biogas digestors across its 33 wards.
The local authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Farai Machaya told The Mirror in an interview that at least 1 000 people will benefit in the first phase. Machaya also said the project has a second phase.

He said the program aims to reduce the effects of climate change, deforestation and rape cases where girls fall, victim while fetching firewood in forests.
“As a council, we are taking long strides towards forest preservation activities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13’s Climate Action.
“We are rolling out a biogas project in all 33 wards. All villagers will benefit from the project. We want to prioritize the safety of the girl child raped when fetching firewood in forests.

“The rate of deforestation is increasing in the district, and these biogas digestors will eliminate the use of firewood. There is a need for reducing carbon emissions, and biogas has a lower carbon footprint,” he said.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Midlands Provincial spokesperson Oswald Ndlovu applauded the local authority.
He said the project compliments EMA’s efforts to promote clean energy sources.
Midlands Provincial Forestry Extension Manager Rodrick Nyawhai said such initiatives reduced deforestation from 330 000 to 262 000 hectares.
Biogas is a low-cost clean energy produced through any waste such as cow dung, human waste and industrial waste.
The gas can be burned as fuel for lighting, cooking and heating, while on a large scale, it can generate electricity. The remaining slug is nitrogen used as organic fertilizer.