Josphine Muthoni is a dairy farmer in Kikuyu town, about 20 kilometres from the Nairobi city centre.
The 45-year-old mother of three uses cow dung from her cattle to make extra money from her cows.
“I have been able to fully exploit the benefits of dairy farming since 2010. I am also able to get a source of energy and manure besides earning an income from the sale of milk,” she said.
Muthoni collects 50 kilogrammes of cow dung from the cowshed; adds 50 litres of water and stirs the mixture thoroughly until it is evenly thick before releasing it into an underground tank.
She adds: “Though the process of making biogas is tedious, I do it every day with the help of my daughter who just cleared secondary school. We have been able to save money we would have spent on other sources of energy for our house.”
In the underground tank, the process of anaerobic fermentation takes place and after four days, you get two by-products - biogas and slurry. Through a connecting pipe, the gas goes directly to Muthoni's biogas cooker in the kitchen, ready for use.
“I use the gas for all cooking needs and it can go for two hours continuously without going out. In case it goes out, you give it a 30-minute break and the gas refills and you can even cook longer,” said Muthoni.
She adds that she no longer has to worry about pollution, which is associated with other energy sources like firewood, charcoal or kerosene. She says that the biogas has helped her not only use clean energy but also make savings which would otherwise have not been possible.
Muthoni joins other farmers who are no longer rearing cows for milk and meat but also for the other by-products like biogas which has been hailed as a source of alternative energy.