Use Briquetting Press-Case Study2

Leonard Kalegua is a farmland owner who owns a smallholding in Uganda. He was introduced to briquetting press in 2010, after which he was inspired to start making briquettes as a sideline business, encouraged by his personal concern for deforestation and the opportunity to supplement his income.


 

Prior to this, Kalegua earned a living for himself and his family primarily through subsistence farming and selling wood logs to local traders. However he now spends 2-3 days a week making briquettes – almost half his working week – and with the occasional help of his family. The rest of the time he still attends to his crops but feels that his briquettes can earn him more money in the long run.

 

Kalegua buys waste farmland waste and forest residue from vendors in the nearby village, which they sell to him for Ush 10,000 (US$3) for a 75 kg sack. He carries this to his house by foot, where he turns it into cylindrical briquettes using a hand-powered screw extruder and starch as a binder; they are then sold in his village for Ush 1,000 (US$0.40) per kg. The amount of briquettes he makes per month varies greatly; in November 2011 he sold 145 kg but in December only 45 kg. Nevertheless, due to the success of his sales so far, Kalegua plans to enlist the help of two neighbouring ladies to help him produce more. Having not attended school, Kalegua cannot write, so his neighbour and friend help him to keep records of his sales with the initial guidance from his GVEP business mentor. His lack of formal education has also given him motivation to learn briquetting press as an additional skill that can help him earn a living.

Though low level of technology and lacking of advanced machinery, people has more enthusiasm to make briquette by hand or simple machinecal tool. The most important reason is that it can make money for them to support their living. People earn more money than growing crops. It has significant meaning to develop the briquette industry in Africa, not just for the fake of carbon emission and other air pollution issues. In fact, it would change people's living condition from long run. As the development of the briquette industry, more and more people begin to engage in this business and in some ways it can change the poor condtion of African.

Briquette machine produced by KMEC is suitable for processing various kinds of biomass raw materials with low energy consumption and high production efficiency. It is a good helper to make better use of the biomass wastes, which can help people to raise their incomes and improve their living conditions. Welcome to visit our company and purchase your own briquette machine.