Uncovering biogas outcomes: tales of hubris, hope, and failure from southern Malawi

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to speak directly to biogas failure. Over the past two decades, immense amounts of money have beenspent by African governments, private individuals, and most conspicuously, international aid agencies and donors, on countlessbiogas projects in every country on the continent. Yet, despite the investments, biogas has not taken off, and the continent isstrewn with the ruins of hundreds of failed and abandoned biogas projects. Moreover, scholarly literature contains little feedbackabout what actually happens on the ground, and by extension, a lack of critical reflection as to why a biogas revolution that hasbeen perennially over the horizon has yet to arrive. Focusing on southern Malawi, and combining detailed, qualitative, narrativeinvestigation with owners and providers, with on-site socio-technical investigation, we unpack 61 in-depth case studies of small-scale biogas provision in order to provide narrative descriptions of the practical outcomes of biogas projects from the perspectiveof adopters and users, in addition to analysis of project outcomes across different models of project implementation. Our findingscenter the importance of active, engaged owners, but also reveal a connection between the structural nature of specific biogasprojects, the relationship of the user to the plant, and the project's resultant outcomes. So although owners matter, different pro-ject structures have the ability to create empowered, engaged biogas owners, or conversely, to place them in positions of limitedpower and influence which can exacerbate project weaknesses.