ProBEC appoints a regional consultant to gauge government buy-in to support biomass energy conservation activities post 2010

ProBEC recently appointed Mr Cornelius Mzezewa, a Zimbabwean national, to undertake an exploratory study amongst ProBEC national counterparts to ascertain Governments' willingness to support biomass energy activities post 2010. The need for biomass energy conservation programs to promote access to and efficient utilisation of biomass beyond December 2010 is clear, as over 60% of the region's population depends on biomass to meet their energy needs.

SADC member states, through the SADC secretariat indicated that they would like to retain ProBEC as a regional programme even after the German exit. Member states further committed to direct financial support of national biomass programmes and this commitment was confirmed at the SADC Energy Ministers Meeting held in Maputo in April 2009. However, apart from Swaziland who applied to the Treasury for 30 000 euro for ProBEC activities, little other support has been committed. Mr Mzezewa will visit a number of ProBEC countries to hold discussion with government representatives on progress with committing support to biomass energy.

The major deliverable of the consultancy is a report indicating:

• Progress with the implementation of the ProBEC exit strategy by each of the participating countries.
• Proof of support for the ProBEC program from the participating national SADC Governments.
• Evidence of financial allocation to the ProBEC or other support in kind for ProBEC activities post December 2010.
•  Evidence of sustainable working relationships between Governments and other key stakeholders (NGOs, private sector etc.) in the respective SADC countries.

For more information contact Marlett Balmer (marlett.balmer@gtz.de) or Mr Cornelius Mzezewa (ctmzezewa@zol.co.zw).

EU supports BEST process

•  In Swaziland, building on the National Energy Policy of 2003, is the formulation of a National Energy Policy Implementation Strategy (NEPIS) which has a chapter on "Biomass Energy Implementation Strategy”. A draft exists that awaits approval by the Ministry of Natural Resources. This process is funded by the EUEI Partnership Dialogue Facility (EU PDF).
• In Mozambique the Terms of Reference for the BEST tender have been finalised and the EU PDF has agreed to fund the process of drafting the BEST. The EU PDF is expected to launch the tender by March 2010.

Various stakeholder submit their ideas on bioenergy initiatives

Key messages on "How to design, implement and replicate sustainable small-scale livelihood-oriented bioenergy initiatives, based on the Technical Consultation held in FAO, Rome, 28-29 October 2009, have been compiled by Mr Olivier Dubois, the Senior Rural Institutions Officer & Bioenergy Group Coordinator, Climate Change and Bioenergy Unit (NRCB), of the Natural Resource Management and Environment Department;UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). To download the document "Key Messages on Bioenergy Initiatives" or follow this link to the FAO website: ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/nr/data/NRC/TC%20on%20small%20scale%20bioenergy/Key%20messages/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Key%20messages%20%20FINAL%20.pdfHYPERLINK