The “Biochar Plus” project announces the launch of the “Africa Biochar Partnership – ABP”, an open continental platform for advancing Biochar Systems in Africa. The ABP will be presented on 1^st March 2016 in Nairobi (Kenya), on the occasion of the International Workshop “Biochar Systems for Africa”, organized in collaboration with “Biochar for Sustainable Soils” project.

The “Biochar Systems for Africa” International Workshop pursues the following main objectives:

a) to bring together stakeholders committed to enhancing the implementation of the Biochar Systems in the different sectors (research, education, industries, energy production, and networking – among others), strengthening awareness through information sharing and looking at the Biochar Systems with a systemic/cross-cutting approach. Recognizing the need for moving together towards a common objective;

b) to delineate an example of Action Plan to facilitate the implementation of Biochar Systems, by considering Kenya as a case study. To define the different opportunities and constraints that could be involved in the implementation process, by considering key factors such as the biomass availability in the country. Try to define the most suitable Biochar System to be implemented.  With the aim of discussing on possible opportunities for mainstreaming Biochar Systems Kenya, a round table with Kenyan institutional representatives and African Union Commission delegates has been organized during the afternoon session of the second day of the workshop.

 A draft  agenda of the International Workshop is available on the “Biochar Plus project” website (https://sites.google.com/site/biocharplusproject/events/2016).

The ABP overall objective is to harmonize the coordination, communication and building capacities of Biochar Systems as opportunities for optimized biomass and bio-waste use towards improved resource management in the sectors of agriculture, environment, energy, health and socioeconomic development of the African people.

Biochar systems relate to biochar technology, pyrolysis, and feedstock as well as to the complex relations which are necessary to make the overall process sustainable and an opportunity for socioeconomic development. It includes, research and applications, different aspects related to Biochar Systems such as capacity building, technology transfer, market uptake, advocacy and policy advancement, stakeholders’ and end users’ engagement, strategies development, networking and dissemination.

The Partnership will serve as a hub for peer-to-peer exchange and learning, training and coordination of programs, assistance on accelerating biochar development strategies in Africa.

The ABP will also facilitate the production and dissemination of improved cook stoves, thereby helping to ameliorate the persistent problem of overreliance on woody biomass to meet domestic energy demand mainly in the sub-Saharan African region.

The ABP will be, in its initial phase, spearheaded by ECREEE, the ECOWAS Centre for Energy and Energy Efficiency and will involve all the relevant partners and stakeholders already working on biochar in Africa.

 During the International Workshop, its Work Programme will be discussed and the ABP launched which will be marked by the signing of an MOU by individuals and organizations that want to take part in the platform actively.

More details on ABP will be soon available on the official “Biochar Plus project” website (https://sites.google.com/site/biocharplusproject/the-african-biochar-partnership).

Besides the official launch of the “African Biochar Partnership – ABP” and the provision of information on the ABP to the participants, there is an opportunity for creating a network that would act as a platform for promoting Biochar Systems in its various activities (research, industry, extension officers, policy makers, smallholder farmers).