Watch: The innovator from Sierra Leone turn coconuts into fuel

euronews (in English)

In Sierra Leone, coconuts are a household favourite. Locals eat the flesh and drink the juice. Now a young eco-entrepreneur initiative, the discarded husk has been put to good use.

Transcript

00:00This is what they use to prepare their daily meal.

00:07Charcoal comes from wood.

00:10It is not healthy for the planet.

00:12Seventy percent of the deforestation in Sierra Leone is being used to produce charcoal.

00:16You cannot tell somebody to use charcoal to cook without giving them an alternative, which

00:20is something that they can't afford.

00:22We all know charcoal is not good, but gas is expensive.

00:26I've found out that you can kill two birds with one stone using biomass waste to produce

00:30something that can be used as an alternative.

00:33My name is Alhaji Ahmad Sirajba.

00:35I'm the founder of Rooksard Trading.

00:46Sierra Leone is a coastal country with lots of coconut trees.

00:49Sierra Leoneans love eating coconut a lot.

00:51They drink the juice, eat the flesh, and discard the coconut shells, but it doesn't

00:57go to waste because we use it to produce eco-friendly biobrickage.

01:00Every part of the coconut is being utilized.

01:03We start by collecting the coconut waste in various areas across Freetown.

01:10We have to bring it to our production site, dump it on the site, leave it for a week for

01:14it to dry at least, to reduce the moisture content.

01:18We carbonize it in drums, but we just acquired some machines that can increase production.

01:23Then we grind it.

01:27After we've mixed it with our binder, we extrude it using hydraulic press.

01:31Then after that, we have to dry it, package it, then take it out to the customers.

01:38It is labor intensive.

01:43In Africa and in Sierra Leone, bringing something that is new to the population is crazy.

01:49People have been using charcoal for centuries.

01:52Changing that, telling them that this is something better and easier for you to use than what

01:57you've been using for generations, takes time.

02:01We do not have the funds to do this extensive marketing in creating awareness.

02:08I'm just a young dude coming from nowhere.

02:10I had no connection, I have nobody.

02:14We started from nothing.

02:15We started with just $20.

02:18I'm facing problems that every young entrepreneur faces.

02:22Finances are one of the biggest challenges.

02:25Most times I get challenges and I'll be like, I need to stop, but I wake up in the morning

02:29and I come back to work.

02:31This is not just a fight for us, it is a fight for everyone, for planet earth and for humanity.

02:4090-95% of the population uses charcoal to cook.

02:44It produces so much smoke.

02:46It is not healthy for their own use.

02:48It is not healthy for the planet.

02:50It is not good for people around them.

02:53In fact, a report from WHO says that smoke from charcoal claims more than 4 million lives

02:57annually.

02:58That is more than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined.

03:01I had to create awareness about the existence of this product to people in communities.

03:07Mostly what we care about in Africa is about price.

03:09What we're doing is to try to get this thing way more cheaper than what they have been

03:13using, so we can use price as an advantage for us to be able to capture the market.

03:19So I use the produce to take this into the market.

03:23We start by telling them that this is cheaper than what you've been using.

03:26Also, this is not just about the price.

03:28It's good for them in various ways.

03:30What we do is explain to them to understand what we're doing and what we are fighting

03:34against.

03:35I'm against deforestation because it causes a lot of problems and we need to cut the

03:39down trees to produce charcoal.

03:41So the deforested areas become vulnerable to landslide.

03:47Using this bio-bricket from coconut shells helps to clean the environment.

03:51It helps to minimize deforestation.

03:55We are providing something that is smokeless to these people out there.

03:59It brings in economic benefit because it lasts longer.

04:02It burns four hours longer than normal charcoal.

04:06To cook charcoal before, you have to use three packets of it to cook rice and soup.

04:12When I'm using the coconut bricket, you can use it for like one or two days.

04:18The one kg.

04:19You just put the amount you want and then you start cooking effortlessly.

04:25Siaj is doing a great job.

04:27It's inspiring.

04:31I tried to convince one of my friends who was using the wood and charcoal as well.

04:36I can recommend this coconut bricket to as many people as I can because it has helped

04:42me a lot.

04:43You can try it and then you thank me later.

04:49We keep on going because of what we're doing and the impact we're creating in society.

04:53We've saved thousands of trees since we started because we've been able to produce more than

04:56300 tons of bio-brickets.

04:59We've created employment and families are being fed because of us and what we are doing

05:04today.

05:05Two years ago, we decided to expand not just by using coconut shells.

05:12If we want to take this thing nationwide, coconut might not be enough for us to serve

05:20the Sierra Leone population.

05:24We did research and we have so many formulas.

05:26We have various types of raw material, all sorts of biomass waste that can be able to

05:30use and turn it to bio-bricket.

05:34My plan is to have a company across the region, create more employment opportunity because

05:41youth unemployment is one of the biggest problems in Africa.

05:44These things keep me going.

05:46It is not a smooth sail, but we'll get there.

05:56www.globalonenessproject.org

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