Imarisha: youth developing and selling a safer, environmentally friendly charcoal for cooking

Kenya –  Youth producing and drying briquettes

In April, 2016 GPA awarded a $5000 grant to Imarisha to train community youth to develop, process and market efficient charcoal briquettes from solid waste. These briquettes are used for cooking stoves in most homes in the Nyeri region of Kenya. In addition, this product preserves the natural forestation of the area and provide a cleaner source of fuel. Four youth were trained on the production process, marketing, financial management and sales of the product. Ten additional youth earned funds by providing the solid waste for production.  When faced with obstacles, youth readily reached out to experts to collaborate resulting in a well-branded, effective product that is affordable resulting in decreased poverty, a cleaner environment and reduced unemployment in the area. Imarisha has plans to scale up production in 2017.

In 2018, GPA provided an additional $10,000 second-level grant to support organizational capacity, expanded marketing and effective branding of the materials to increase market share.