Bioenergy for SMEs in West Africa

Between 2020 and 2026, the BioStar project team rolled out more than 40 bioenergy machines at sites belonging to 20 partner SMEs in Burkina Faso and Senegal. Th all relied on a simple system: recovering organic waste generated during processing operations and re-using it as fuel. 

The equipment was adapted to the requirements of various agricultural value chains—shea, cashew, groundnut, mango, rice, and so on—and tested by the SMEs. 

BioStar is funded by the EU and AFD and coordinated by CIRAD. It has a multidisciplinary team involving nine African and European partners: 2iE, IRSAT, Nitidæ, UTS, ISRA, UGB, UHOH, Catholic University of Louvain and UNIROMA3.

Women make up 90% of the workforce in these agrifood processing firms

Women are an essential part of rural SMEs. Their skilled work, in this case making shea butter in Burkina Faso, is central to local value creation and to the economic dynamism of the territories concerned.

Like the shea value chain, mango processing in Burkina Faso is largely reliant on female labour. Every production campaign attracts large numbers of women looking for seasonal work at drying units. 

At rural processing units, women are involved in every stage of the value chain, right up to end product preparation.

Hand sorting groundnuts prior to hulling is a prime example of the labour-intensive nature of operations in rural SMEs and the persistence of largely unmechanised processes.

The sector provides numerous jobs. In the mango value chain, for instance, every production campaign attracts large numbers of women looking for seasonal work at drying units.

All prototypes are made with equipment manufacturers in the region

The bioenergy equipment developed within the framework of the BioStar project was designed in collaboration between users from partner SMEs, equipment manufacturers in Burkina Faso and Senegal, and scientists. Prototyping workshops allowed participants to share their ideas, and served to combine scientific expertise and local know-how. Such discussions are key to developing appropriate solutions.

The equipment manufacturers buy steel to make the equipment from local ironmongers. The realities of this practice govern the technical choices made and mean that the equipment is designed in line with the resources available.

An employee from an SME and equipment makers in Senegal take a break from working to adapt a 300-kg bioenergy-fired roaster, following an initial test phase. This collaboration illustrates the continuous improvement approach involving users and equipment manufacturers, supported by BioStar.

Partner SMEs test the new machinery under real-life conditions

SME staff members were involved in developing the equipment, and have played a full role in every stage of the project, building a real feeling of  co-invention that has facilitated the appropriation and adoption of the technology. In this case, a worker from the ANASAM SME poses proudly alongside a steam boiler fuelled by cashew shells.

This real-life test phase is intended to confirm the efficiency, safety and ergonomics of the equipment developed. In the photo above, a woman working for a pilot SME in Burkina Faso tests a prototype shea butter cooking appliance fuelled by churning sludge.

Introducing bioenergy technology opens up new job prospects and fosters skill building at rural SMEs.