Reverse Linkage

99 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION as representative of the five regions of the country – North, East, West, South-West, and Central. The selection process was influenced in each case by the extent of environmental degradation, energy use practices, agricultural practices, and population size. Each group had to comprise a metal welder and an entrepreneur. On average, 30 to 35 people per district, during a four-day structured training programme, would be trained in the process of pyrolysing agricul- tural waste for the production of char powder, fabricating kilns from locally available metals such as drums, making briquettes and starting a charcoal briquette business. In order to improve the pace of technology adaptation and uptake, the project provided kilns, extruders and mounting tables to the best performers in each group. Impact of the charcoal briquettes project Although the project did not have the resources to undertake a full impact study, the knowledge flow has generated signifi- cant impact in the economy, with the private sector, not for profit organisations, and government playing major roles. During project implementation, UNCST partnered with Appropriate Rural Technology Institute Uganda (ARTI-U) to train the beneficiaries in metal fabrication and provide hands-on training in briquette making. ARTI-U also trained Vincent Kienzler, proprietor of Green Bio Energy Ltd (GBE), who launched the company in 2012. GBE is an award-winning social enterprise based in Uganda, which produces a new generation of clean and affordable charcoal briquettes called Briketi. Initially, the only briquettes on the Visit by Aminuddin Mat Ariff, Senior Capacity Development Specialist, Islamic Development Bank, to the Farmers’ Development Trust in Iganga, Eastern Uganda, who benefited from the project funded by IsDB Image: UNCST–IsDB Project 2013a