List Of Disruptive Kenyan Startups, Tech Innovations That Support Climate Change Agenda

• Over the last decade, Kenya has borne the brunt of climate-related changes causing desertification, food crises and drought
• Rising temperatures also affect Africa despite the continent being responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions
• Some of the Kenyan startups and tech innovations that support the climate change agenda are the Kenya Climate Innovation Centre, GreenChar and Biogen

The world, including Kenya, suffers substantial economic losses due to climate change.

Over the last decade, Kenya has borne the brunt of climate-related changes causing desertification, food crises and drought.

Rising temperatures also affect Africa despite the continent being responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, over 110 million people in Africa were directly affected by weather, climate and water-related hazards in 2022, causing more than US$ 8.5 billion (KSh 1.24 trillion) in economic damages.

"There were a reported 5 000 fatalities, of which 48% were associated with drought and 43% were associated with flooding," the global organisation revealed.

Which Kenyan start-ups support climate change agenda?

1. GreenChar

The company provides clean, affordable cooking energy to low-income households in Kenya.

It does this by recycling agricultural wastes into high-energy, smokeless charcoal briquettes. These products and clean cookstoves help families save time, money and lives.

GreenChar was founded by Tom Osborn. According to its website, it has disbursed $8.6 million (KSh 1.25 billion) in grants to companies and reached over 40 million people through campaigns.

2. Kenya Climate Innovation Centre

The Kenya Climate Innovation Centre (KCIC) offers incubation, capacity building and financing options to new, small and medium business ventures.

It also finances Kenyan entrepreneurs developing innovations to address the challenges of climate change.

"We support small enterprises with innovative ideas geared towards climate change. We give them funding, train them and offer advice on how they can get licences. We also give them space in our office to work from," KCIC said in a statement to TUKO.co.ke.

3. Biogen Kenya

Biogen Kenya makes biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. It buys used cooking oil at KSh 75 per litre.

Biodiesel saves over 95% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels.

One of the companies under Biogen is Zijani, a renewable energy brand that commercialises biodiesel production and refining with a focus on fuel quality and environmental sustainability.

4. Kijiji Ukulima

Kijiji Ukulima Eco (KUE) is a Community-Based Organisation (CBO) in Gem, Siaya county.

It was founded by the youths in the area to address disruptive agricultural practices and landscape restoration.

The organisation embraces science, technology, innovation and capacity building to transform Gem's economy and sustainable development into a strong, climate-resilient, self-reliant community.

Members engage in tree planting exercises to clean the air.

5. HyaPak

HyaPak is a start-up that converts water hyacinth into biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastic products.

In this, it uses the world’s most problematic aquatic menace to solve plastic waste pollution in Kenya's water bodies.

The company has removed over 700kg of water hyacinth from Lake Naivasha and over 3.5 tonnes of plastic from rivers. It has also planted over 4,500 trees.

What's Kenya's deal with Spiro?

In other news, Kenya has partnered with Spiro, an electric motorbike manufacturer and clean energy provider, to deploy over one million electric vehicles.

The agreement was reached during the ongoing Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and hopes to provide sustainable transportation through renewable energy.

President William Ruto, the convener of the summit, said Kenya was committed to reducing greenhouse emissions.

The head of state reiterated his government's commitment to adopting low-carbon and efficient transportation systems.

"We are committed to enhancing our climate action by adopting low-carbon and efficient transportation systems through the application of innovations, including clean, efficient, and sustainable energy technologies," Ruto said.