Saving shea: How a Ugandan woman turns waste into clean energy | Story

Alebtong, Uganda When Lucy Everlyn Atim returned home after six years working for children’s rights in South Sudan’s refugee-populated South Sudan, her beloved shea tree ran out.

The tree is known as moyao, and it made its youth. Every morning, he and his friends gathered under its branches to eat its delicious and sweet fruits before going to school.

His disappearance was not the only loss. Throughout northern Uganda, many shea trees had been cut down to make charcoal.

“I was touched,” Atim, now in his 30s and a climate activist, told Al Jazeera.

“The destruction of shea trees is dangerous, these trees need to be protected, but people also need another way to make firewood.”

Uganda loses about 122,000 hectares of forest each year, mainly due to charcoal cultivation and logging. While nearly 90 percent of households rely on charcoal for cooking, natural varieties such as shea and Afzelia africana continue to disappear.

A study by Makerere University found that the number of mature shea trees on the farm fell from 20 trees in 2008 to between 10 and 15 trees by 2017.

“There is still no information on the decline of shea trees in northern Uganda,” Dr Patrick Byakagaba, an environmental researcher at Makerere University who led the study, told Al Jazeera.

“More needs to be done to ensure their abundance, tree survival and regeneration.”

Tracking the decline is difficult, he said, because charcoal producers often uproot whole trees, leaving no stumps to count.

While working in South Sudan, Atim met a woman in Yida making fuel briquettes from discarded shea husks.

He said: “I was very impressed with what I knew.

In 2023, she founded the Moyao Africa Initiative, a philanthropic business that turns shea waste into fuel briquettes, while helping women earn money by making shea butter.

The project employs six workers and works with more than 1,200 women who are organized into savings groups to collect shea waste, make briquettes and process butter.

“In many families, women have trouble finding cooking oil by teaching them how to make and sell butter and shea butter. We earn money by providing a cheaper alternative to charcoal,” he said.

Oil for learning

On a hot afternoon in Alebtong, 15 women sit on woven mats to attend a training session led by the Moyao Africa Initiative.

They are chairpersons of savings groups across the state, learning to turn waste husks into cooking oil.

When the teacher asks about the process, the women respond in unison: collect the husks, crush them, mix them with clay and cassava flour, shape them, polish them and store them.

Soon the lesson moves from theory to practice. Some women trample dry husks in the mud while others dig in the dirt. Nearby, another team stirs the cassava paste, the binder that binds the mixture together before throwing it into the mold and leaving it to dry in the sun.

Among them is Catherine Akello, the chairperson of the Oteno Moyao Africa Women’s Group in Abwoc village.

Before joining the project, Akello was very fond of shea seeds, which he used to spread in his family’s butter. The husks were thrown away.

Now it has become a source of fuel.

“I don’t have to worry about buying charcoal every time I want to cook because I make my own briquettes from shea husks,” Akello, a 47-year-old mother of five, told Al Jazeera.

“As a group, we are also able to save money from the things we sell, and this helps us take care of our families in the event of a disaster,” he said.

Demand is increasing, but the harvest is still limited by the time of the shea harvest.

To achieve this, Atim is saving up to buy a carboniser, crusher and briquette machine that costs about $530. This equipment will allow the operation to process large quantities of shea waste and produce briquettes throughout the year.

“Our goal is to increase the production of shea oil from 600 liters to 6,000 liters. This means more shea husks and more briquettes, which will help us meet our needs even if there is a shortage,” he said.

Shared futures

Renewable energy expert Bosco Odyek told Al Jazeera that converting shea husks into briquettes offers a more efficient alternative to charcoal for waste disposal.

By using a fully automated process, he says, it produces clean, smoke-free bots that burn very well.

Beyond oil production, the Moyao Africa Initiative runs conservation clubs in 20 schools in Alebtong district and works with the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) to distribute tree seedlings, encouraging people to restore land.

Paul Mwirichia, a humanitarian and development expert, told Al Jazeera that such measures are necessary but access to clean energy is out of reach for many rural families.

“We have very good policies,” he said.

“The problem is implementation. The government should support Atim organizations because they understand the problems affecting their communities, and people trust them to solve the problems.”

For Atim, this work is about saving the tree that made up his childhood.

The shea tree is gone, but she hopes that turning the discarded husks into firewood will mean fewer trees are cut down and more women can earn a living by saving them.

“We are not leaving anyone behind.”