A group of Prince Edward Island farmers is offering residents an opportunity to invest in carbon credits — from Kenya.
Farmers Helping Farmers, a P.E.I. group that has run exchanges with Kenyan farmers since 1980, plans to launch its new carbon credit program at its semi-annual meeting Jan. 12 (Saturday).
“The program represents the first time that Islanders have had a local option for purchasing carbon credits to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,” the group said in a provincial government release Friday.
For example, the group said, someone who wants to offset the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by air travel over a holiday can opt to invest in one of two projects running in rural Kenya to reduce GHGs while providing “substantial benefits” to Kenyan farm families.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: Cattle prices down, hogs rise again
Live and cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange retreated for a second session, while lean hogs extended their rally….
One project uses small-scale biogas generators, fueled by methane from cow manure, to replace wood as a fuel for cooking. The other provides fuel-efficient cookers in institutions such as schools, to cut down on the amount of wood used and forest depleted in preparing school meals.
The group said these projects will not only improve indoor air quality in farm family homes and rural schools, but will also save on the time Kenyan farm women must spend gathering wood for cooking.
According to the group, funds raised through the sale of tax-deductible carbon credits to Islanders will flow to the Wakulima Dairy Co-op in Kenya, which will sell the biogas generators at cost to local farmers and the fuel-efficient cookers to schools for free as funds allow. The group said on its web site that the actual values of the generators and cookers are about C$500 and C$1,500, respectively.
Farmers Helping Farmers will make a presentation on its new program at its meeting Jan. 12 at the St. Peters Cathedral hall on All Souls Lane in Charlottetown. The meeting begins at noon, followed by the presentation at 1 p.m.
