REASWA Renewable Energy Association of Swaziland

P.O. Box 6379 Mbabane, Swaziland; Tel/Fax: (+268)404-9040 Email: reaswa@swazi.net
Mbabane House, Third floor, Office 11, Warner Street, Mbabane (opposite Mbabane City Council)

NEWS

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING FOR THE RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION OF SWAZILAND (REASWA)
Date: Thursday 20th October 2005
Time: 2:00 – 3:00pm
Venue: Science Education Centre Conference Room, University of Swaziland

PUBLICATIONS

The aim of these is to keep everyone up to date with our activities. The format will develop over time - and we would welcome your suggestions.

If you would like to receive these newsletters, please email Amy at reaswa@swazi.net

REASWA's second newsletter

REASWA's first newsletter

Reports

REASWA recently launched a new publication entitled "Renewable Energy in Swaziland" - download your copy now from here (1.3 Mb)

Membership

Membership cards will be available soon - if you have not filled out at REASWA membership form please request one from this address.

Remember that membership of REASWA is now FREE so please encourage interested friends and colleagues to join.

Contact Amy Francis on 404 9040 for more ...

Annual General Meeting

Dear Members and Associates

It was decided at our Annual General Meeting held on 14th July 2005 that a further meeting should be held in which to elect the new Executive Board.

As the Association has suspended the collection of membership fees, it had become difficult to define a quorum in relation to the voting process.

We therefore attach proposed changes to the constitution addressing these and other issues which we would ask members to comment on.

Items on the agenda will include a short review of the proposed constitutional amendments and the election of the new Executive Board. The current Executive Board has come to the end of its two year term; therefore all six positions are open for nominations. Nominations should be made during the meeting so please ensure that any individuals interested in standing for office attend, or send a representative to the meeting.

Please send notice of attendance to the REASWA secretariat by reply.

Yours Sincerely
Dr Mduduzi Mathunjwa
Chairperson

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING FOR THE RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION OF SWAZILAND (REASWA)
Date: Wednesday, the 16th of July 2003
Time: 08h30-13h00
Venue: La Casserole - OMNI Centre

The agenda is as follows: 08h30 Registration and Tea 09h00 Welcome Remarks - Master of Ceremonies 09h05 Chairperson's Report 09h30 Financial Report 10h00 Discussion 10h30 Elections 11h30 Introduction of New Executive Committee 12h00 Snacks 13h00 Official hand over to New Executive Committee.

University of Swaziland lecturer Mduduzi Mathunjwa has been re-elected as chairman of the Renewable Energy Association of Swaziland (REASWA). The department of physics lecturer retained his position as chairman for the second time since 1998, when REASWA was established.

REASWA’s major objective is to promote the cost-effective use of renewable energy, in an environmentally sustainable and socio-economically acceptable manner.

REASWA’s new executive committee is as follows:

Chairperson: Dr Mduduzi Mathunjwa
Vice Chairperson: Dr Phindile Masangane (UNISWA – Chemistry Dept)
Secretary: Suliaka Gilliland (MNRE Development Worker)
Vice Secretary: Ms Constance Matsebula (SEB Environmental Officer)
Treasurer: Mr Terry Gray (Multichoice Director also involved in community work at eDlangeni)
Info Officer: Mrs Bongi Gray (Yonge Nawe Schools Patron and Science teacher at St Marks)

SUMMARY OF REASWA'S ACTIVITIES

According to the constitution, the goal of REASWA is:

"To promote the cost-effective use of renewable energy in Swaziland in an environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable manner".

The objectives of REASWA are:

Raising public awareness on the correct and appropriate uses of renewable energy
Facilitating the gathering, compiling and timely dissemination of information relating to all aspects of renewable energy
Empowering communities to make their own decision regarding their energy requirements
Encouraging and facilitating renewable energy research and development
Acting as a lobby group on renewable energy issues
Providing valid contributions to National Energy Policy and other relevant institutional forums
Promoting high standards of practice in the design, manufacture, installation, usage and marketing or renewable energy equipment
Providing a forum for people interested in the application of renewable energy technologies to meet
Establishing and managing professional relationships with regional and international organisations with similar interests.

For the past four years, REASWA has operated under the guidance of an Executive Committee, which draws experience from the NGO sector, Government and the private sector. Activities during this period REASWA have included the holding of a number of workshops, seminars and the development of reports on the subject of gender and energy. REASWA have also held a number of awareness raising activities on renewable energy and have assisted the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy in the development of policy on renewable energy issues.

REASWA presently employs one Project Officer under the guidance of the Executive Committee.

RECENT PROJECTS

Gender and Energy

REASWA and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy held a workshop on "Energy and Women: Generating Opportunities for Development," at Mantenga Lodge on 15 September 1999. This workshop followed UNDP's suggestion that the linkage between energy and women could be a vehicle through which sustainable development could be achieved.

In conducting the workshop, the four key development priorities as identified by UNDP were kept in focus. These include (a) eliminating poverty, (b) advancement of women, (c) income-generating opportunities and sustainable livelihoods for women, and (d) protecting and regenerating the environment.

There were three themes on which participants were required to generate ideas on, and they are as follows:

Identify energy related problems faced by women
Suggest means for solving the identified problems and also means of tackling the constraints that can inhibit the solutions of the identified problems
Identify elements that make successful sustainable income generation projects.

In March 2001 REASWA also held a second workshop on "Women and Technology: The case of Energy" at the University of Swaziland. The workshop targeted tertiary level students in areas relevant to teaching, and representing areas in science teaching, home economics, physics, electronic engineering and nursing.

The objectives of the workshop were to:

assess the level of awareness and perception of energy technologies
inform on and demonstrate various energy technologies
discuss activities that could lead to girls being more interested in energy related professions; and
discuss relevant elements of the Nairobi Action Plan on Gender and Energy.

The workshop was funded by ETC Netherlands under the auspices of ENERGIA.

Review of Mphaphati Solar Village

Mphaphati Solar Village is a UNESCO funded project aimed at establishing a demonstration centre for solar technologies in the country. The project has been functioning for over two years and has so far proven to be very successful in terms of sustainability. REASWA has been contracted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy to carry out a review of the project to assess its social impact and technical and economic sustainability.

Case Study Brochure on Renewable Technologies in Swaziland

There is limited knowledge and experience on the utilisation of renewable technologies in the country. Renewable energy resources include hydro, wind, solar and biomass. Many of these are in use throughout the country, albeit on a small scale. The brochure aims to promote the use of these sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies. This project is contracted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy.

Capacity Building in the Private Sector on the Clean Development Mechanism in Southern Africa

The Clean Development Mechanism is a mechanism aimed at encouraging investment in clean energy technologies in developing countries, through the creation of a market for savings in Carbon Dioxide. Although the principles have been agreed by most of the participating countries, the details are still being developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The above project is being funded by the European Union under its Synergy Programme and involves partners in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Swaziland, plus a number of European Clean Development Mechanism, covering issues such as project development, investment, baseline studies, monitoring and verification, financing etc. REASWA has been contracted by the Government to implement the project on her behalf.

Development of a Business Plan and Three Year Programme for REASWA

REAWA has developed a Business Plan and Three Year Programme with assistance from the British High Commission. The aim of this programme and plan is to assist in securing long term funding and fully establishing the organisation as a local centre for expertise in renewable energy. Since REASWA is still a fledgling organisation, although it has been in existence for almost four years, most of its activities have been carried out by a voluntary Executive Committee, this is obviously unsustainable in the long term. Hence the recent appointment of a Project Officer. However, this is seen mainly as a stop-gap until the organisation can fully establish itself and appoint a Director. The above projects will assist in the development of a portfolio and are necessary to prove to donors and other bodies, who may wish to contract the organisation, that is has a good track record.

High Efficiency Use of Biomass in Rural Areas

"High Efficiency Use of Biomass in Rural Areas" a pilot programme is aimed at alleviating the impacts of wood fuel through more efficient utilization in the following communities (February to June 2003):

Lubombo Region- Lomahasha and Ndzevane
Shiselweni Region- Jabulani and Matsanjeni
Peri-urban areas - Manzana (Mbabane)

Project Summary

The Sustainable Biomass Programme aims to ensure that wood fuel is used in the country in a sustainable and efficient manner. This pilot programme will define the baselines and modalities for implementation.

Background

Approximately 77% of the population of Swaziland, that is about 114,000 households live in the rural areas. The majority use wood fuel as their primary energy source for cooking and heating. However, in certain areas, biomass resources have been coming under pressure. More and more woodland is being cleared for agricultural production and the grazing of cattle, while at the same time the demand for wood fuel is not decreasing. There are indications that local shortages exist in the Lowveld and parts of the Upper Middleveld, in particular around dense settlements and arable areas.

Such localised shortages are having an increasingly negative impact on communities in these areas. Households have to travel further and further to collect wood fuel. This has an immediate impact on the women and children of the households who are frequently responsible for the collection of firewood. They have to walk much greater distances and spend more time carrying out this task, at the expense of other activities in the home such as education, income generating activities, looking after the family etc.

This deforestation is also impacting heavily on the environment, with increasing desertification and soil erosion. Valuable top soils are being washed away, causing extensive downstream siltation. The heavy rains also result in the formation of gulleys, a frequent cause of injury and death to cattle.

There are two major ways to reduce these problems, firstly to ensure that the burning of wood fuel is carried out in a more efficient manner and secondly to replace the trees that are chopped down. In the draft Swaziland National Energy Policy, Government endorses both of these activities. It aims to promote the development and dissemination of improved cooking technologies and also to encourage the establishment of communal multipurpose woodlots and individual tree growing. The draft National Forest Policy emphasises that these measures must be taken to ensure sustainable supply of fuel wood to meet the needs of communities.

There has been a trend in many countries to switch from wood fuel to charcoal. Presently, charcoal has limited production in the country. It is not a popular fuel amongst rural people. In many other countries however, charcoal has become a major fuel source, often replacing wood fuel. This can be a result of wood fuel shortages in certain areas. Charcoal is very easy to transport, which makes it attractive to move from areas of wood fuel availability to wood fuel shortage. However, it is a highly inefficient method of cooking and heating and there is also a tendency to switch to coal burning technologies. Also, many of these fuels are imported. Avoiding this switch and maintaining an efficient use of wood fuels, the balance of payments for the country can be conserved. This is also beneficial to the environment, through avoiding the use of fossil fuels.

Within the country, there is already expertise and experience in both the public and private sector on the use and manufacture of high efficiency wood-stoves. The Government is also piloting community woodlots and is presently due to evaluate the experience of the communities.

FUTURE PROJECTS

Solar Cooking Programme for a school feeding scheme

The Mphaphati community would like to build on the success of the solar project in the Primary School by using solar cooking technology for the feeding scheme. This will improve the health and consequently the learning abilities of the students while at the same time preserving the local and global environment.

Replication of Mphaphati Solar village

Seeing that Mphaphati Solar village is a success story in the use of solar energy, replication of the same in other communities would benefit the country.

FORUMS

REASWA successfully hosted the first in a series of forums on renewable energy on the 16th of April 2003. This was aimed at raising the awareness of the general public on renewable energy and giving interested parties an opportunity to debate specific areas.

The subject of the forum was "Are trees a renewable energy resource?"

Over 70% of the population of Swaziland live in rural areas. The majority of these homesteads use woodfuel for cooking and heating. Even with the extensive rural electrification programmes throughout the country, it is unlikely that many people will change to using electricity for cooking due to the higher costs.

However, over the last ten years, an increasing population has placed a high burden on the country's indigenous woodlands and forests. In some areas, extensive deforestation is occurring resulting in the women and children from the households having to travel further to source firewood. There are even an increasing number of cases of people having to buy firewood to support their families.

This deforestation is also resulting in soil erosion and desertification, as the root structures are no more there to hold the rich surface soils in place. These soils, including the nutrients necessary for growing new trees are washed away during the rains and in the worst cases, dongas are formed, causing hazards to cattle and other animals.

So, trees are necessary to provide woodfuel for rural household energy needs, but their use can also cause environmental damage. In addition, as woodfuel is burned Carbon Dioxide, a Greenhouse Gas, is emitted to the atmosphere adding to global warming.

The main focus of the debate will therefore focus around the question, "if trees are used as fuelwood and planted and managed sustainably, can they be described as a renewable energy resource."

OFFICES

Canada Fund assisted in the purchase of office equipment and in January 2003 permanent offices were established.

REASWA's offices are situated at Mbabane House, Warner Street, Third floor, Office number 11.

This page was last updated on 04 October 2005