CEC Renewables Unit partners with Musika

The CEC Renewables Unit has partnered with Musika, a Zambian non-profit company, to develop, pilot and scale up a commercially viable business model around bioenergy production, aggregation and processing that offers strong, beneficial and secure market opportunities to small-holder farmers.

This will be achieved by establishing contractual arrangements with agricultural ‘intermediaries’ in the biodiesel supply chain, through which farmers can supply commodities to CEC.

CEC will also provide technical support and advisory services to the intermediaries and the farmers in their supply networks to ensure a high quality and consistent supply of feedstock, beneficial to both CEC and the suppliers. This will contribute to poverty alleviation and will encourage small-holder farmers to earn extra income from oil seed crops.

As part of the agreement, Musika will provide training to CEC staff and ‘intermediaries’ on several aspects related to feedstock supply management and capacity building of small-scale farmers to ensure business model sustainability. A biodiesel test facility will also be set up at the CEC biodiesel plant under a cost-share arrangement between CEC and Musika.

The partnership between CEC Renewables and Musika is for a period of two years, effective January 2015. In April 2015, Musika handed over to CEC Renewables Unit a vehicle valued at USD46,000 as part of a grant contract envisaged to benefit at least 1,000 small-scale farmers in growing and supplying jatropha and soya bean to CEC Renewables as feedstock for its biodiesel processing plant.

Musika works to stimulate private sector investment in small-holder markets and is affiliated to the Zambia National Farmers Union.