Rice husks, once largely treated as agricultural waste, are emerging as a promising source of business, employment and clean energy as Tanzania explores ways to turn farm residues into valuable products.
The technology to convert rice husks into alternative charcoal is expected to help reduce pressure on forests, create jobs and support income-generating opportunities for entrepreneurs while contributing to the country’s clean cooking agenda.
The Director of Technology and Industrial Development at the Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO), Engineer Kalumuna Benedicto, said the technology presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to access affordable raw materials and develop businesses around agricultural waste.
Speaking to journalists during a workshop marking the completion of a project aimed at adding value to rice husks for alternative charcoal production, Engineer Kalumuna said rice husks are widely available because they are often discarded after rice processing.
He said converting the waste into energy products could increase entrepreneurs’ incomes while generating employment and supporting environmental conservation.
“Rice husks are readily available and have limited commercial value in their raw form. Turning them into alternative energy provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to obtain raw materials at a relatively low cost,” he said.
The project, funded by the Government of Japan, was implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), SIDO, Nelson Mandela University and Japanese company E-Square.
Under the initiative, three small-scale enterprises were initially provided with machinery and training to demonstrate the potential of rice husks as a raw material for alternative charcoal and improved fuel briquettes.
Engineer Kalumuna said one of the project’s major achievements was demonstrating that agricultural waste can be transformed into commercially valuable products while addressing environmental challenges.
He said SIDO was now encouraging the private sector to take advantage of the opportunity, while the Government continues supporting efforts to enable more industries and entrepreneurs to adopt the technology.
However, the cost of machinery remains a challenge for some potential investors. Engineer Kalumuna said a machine supplied through the Japanese-supported project costs more than TZS 100 million.
He said assessments had shown that similar machines could be manufactured locally through institutions such as SIDO, the Technology Development and Transfer Centre (TEMDO) and small-scale workshops.
Local manufacturing, he said, would reduce dependence on expensive imported machinery and make the technology more accessible to small businesses.
The project also identified institutions such as schools as a potentially significant market for rice-husk fuel, particularly facilities serving more than 100 people where large quantities of cooking fuel are required.
The alternative fuel currently sells for about TZS 350 to TZS 500 per kilogramme, positioning it as a potentially affordable option for institutions and consumers across different income groups.
UNIDO Project Coordinator Faustine Msangira said the initiative was part of broader efforts to support the Government in reducing deforestation and promoting environmentally sustainable energy solutions.
She said the project was implemented over about one and a half years in Morogoro, Mbeya and Shinyanga regions, where three small-scale enterprises received machinery and training in alternative charcoal production.
According to Msangira, the beneficiary companies began commercial production after completing the training and have created employment opportunities, with schools emerging as some of their important customers.
She said the machines supplied under the project were demonstration models intended to show other entrepreneurs that agricultural waste can be transformed into a viable business.
One of the beneficiaries, Christopher Amory Salim of Raphael Group Limited, said the technology had enabled his company to increase production, generate income and create jobs, particularly for young people and women.
He said young people were employed in operating the machinery, while women and other young people were involved in collecting and supplying rice husks used as raw materials.
However, Salim identified market access and consumer awareness as major challenges because alternative charcoal remains relatively new to many consumers.
He said the company was gradually expanding its market by supplying schools and other institutions.
Meanwhile, Motormax Energies Chairman Ibrahim Kangamila said his company was working to process agricultural waste and turn it into clean cooking energy.
He said more effort was needed to educate consumers about the benefits of clean energy and the wider environmental and economic costs associated with continued dependence on wood-based fuels.
Kangamila said the company had started conducting awareness activities in schools to educate students about the effects of deforestation and the importance of adopting cleaner cooking solutions.
For Tanzanian entrepreneurs, the emerging rice-husk fuel industry presents an opportunity to build businesses around a resource that has traditionally been discarded.
For consumers and institutions, it could provide an additional cooking-energy option, while for communities it could create jobs and help reduce pressure on forests.
Stakeholders are therefore calling for greater private-sector investment, local production of machinery and stronger consumer awareness to help turn agricultural waste into a commercially viable clean-energy industry.
