EcoGen Limited

Converts organic waste into renewable cooking gas and organic fertiliser
2021 SEED Climate Adaptation Awards; Government of Flanders
Clean Energy
Lilongwe
Malawi

EcoGen designs, manufactures, sells, distributes and installs small, medium and large biowaste bin systems that converts organic waste into renewable cooking gas and organic fertilizer for targeted households.

Their target customers include environmentally conscious consumers, community change makers, small-holder farmers, institutions (schools, hotel, hospitals), government departments and NGOs.

Eco-inclusive Impacts
The provision of renewable cooking gas, especially to rural customers relying on wood fuel, takes pressure off local forest resources. Organic fertiliser increases yields and income of smallholder farmers, enhancing their climate resilience.
  • Supported over 100 women with clean cooking energy and economic empowerment
  • Increasing alternative income generation for dairy farmers
  • Providing capacity building on sustainable agriculture, waste management and clean technologies to youth and women
  • Providing clean cooking energy solutions enabling over 3000 people to access biogas technology, waste management and biofertiliser
  • Converting agriculture waste that would have gone to landfills into organic fertiliser
  • Reducing GHG emissions generated from organic waste
  • Creation of permanent jobs for the local population
  • Helping farmers to become independent of chemical fertilisers and improve yields by applying organic fertiliser.
  • Saving on average USD 450 per household per year on energy costs.

Partners

EcoGen provides technically advanced biowaste bins/ biodigesters for households to recycle their leftover food and agriculture waste into alternative renewable biogas energy for cooking and organic fertiliser for gardening.

Ministry of Environment and Forest, Environmental Affairs Department, Malawi supports the enterprise to replicate similar models in rural areas where people lack access to clean cooking energy and sustainable agriculture advisory. The department also provided funds of USD 40,000.

Milk Producers Association of Malawi has a network of 20,000 dairy farmers. The enterprise works with them by providing farmers in this network with technology that can increase their income while contributing to reduction of GHG emissions.