05 Mar STARTER SIGNS THE AFRICAN BIOCHAR PARTNERSHIP

On 1st March, the African Biochar Partnership was started in Nairobi. A Memorandum Of Understanding was signed by researchers, private companies, and international organizations – including the African Union Commission and ECREEE-ECOWAS convened in a workshop held back-to-back with the annual meeting of the Biochar Plus project and hosted by ICRAF, the UN World Agroforestry Centre.
ABP is an important initiative for the promotion of biochar technology and systems in Africa, and the signature of the MOU represents a milestone in the Biochar Plus project, in which Starter S.r.l. is a partner.
The path to achieve this important result started last year, during the annual meeting of Biochar Plus held in Kumasi (Ghana). Subsequently, a concept note of the African Biochar Partnership was drafted by ECREEE-ECOWAS in cooperation with all project partners – and particularly with Starter. The first draft was proposed last June, on occasion of the Biochar Expo in Milan, to some researchers from the COST Action, who are working in projects for the use of biochar in Africa. All contributed to improving the concept note of ABP, but it is thanks to Biochar Plus partners’ efforts that the MOU could be signed, and therefore, the first stone for the formal establishment of ABP was laid.
ABP will be a platform collecting researchers, business people, and international organizations that will support the development of biochar systems in Africa to favour socio-economic development and citizens’ well-being, particularly in villages and small communities, which nowadays are suffering from poor energy access and all related problems.
More information is available on Biochar Plus website.