EAGC in partnership with DI East Africa held a decarbonization workshop under the Sustainable African Value Chain Initiative (SAVI) programme, bringing together agribusinesses in the grain sector to gain practical skills in measuring their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identifying opportunities to reduce them.

The workshop took a practical approach, focusing on what businesses can do to identify where emissions come from, collect the right data, measure their carbon footprint, and use the results to inform better business decisions.

Facilitating the workshop, EAGC SAVI Project Manager Vincent Kimutai Bitok introduced participants to GHG accounting, sources of emissions across business operations and value chains, data collection and organisation, and the importance of establishing a baseline to track changes in emissions over time.

A key part of the workshop was a practical session using a GHG accounting calculator. Participants worked through examples to see how business activities and different emission scopes can be captured, analysed and compared. The calculator was one of the key takeaways for Steve Migwambo of Chanzi Group. “I am happy to have learned about the GHG accounting calculator demonstrated during the workshop, it was more than a calculator – it brings together the company’s activities and emission scopes, allowing us to compare baseline emissions with new emission levels and clearly guiding us on how to reduce emissions.”

The workshop also gave participants an opportunity to share their experiences, connecting the lessons learned to their own operations. Sarah Nura stated a better understanding of how to move from emissions data to action: “The workshop gave me a deeper understanding of decarbonization, particularly how to accurately scope emissions and translate data into meaningful carbon reduction actions. I was impressed by the practical approach and the carbon calculator.”

For Ruth Muema of MagnaStar Group Company Ltd., the workshop reinforced the broader changes businesses need to make: “Decarbonization is not just about reducing carbon emissions; it is about rethinking how we produce, consume, and build sustainable systems.”
The practical nature of the training also opened opportunities for businesses to learn from one another and from experiences further down the value chain. “Sustainability is a very good topic and I liked the explanations today. Now I am more educated on the topic and looking forward to seeing areas of collaboration to learn more from practical experience with farmers during data collection.” Alex Mugane, Customized Aviation Solutions
For businesses already working towards sustainability goals, the training comes at an important time. Judith Ogutu of Uzima Chicken noted: “The SAVI Project has come at the right time for Uzima Chicken. The decarbonization project will strengthen our GHG emissions reporting, contributing greatly to our goal of building a sustainable poultry industry while ensuring quality products for our smallholder farmers.”
Through SAVI, EAGC will provide tailored technical support to participating businesses to undertake their GHG inventories, interpret the results, identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce emissions and costs, and develop practical decarbonization strategies.
The support will also help businesses prepare for growing expectations around carbon footprint reporting and sustainability reporting, which are increasingly becoming important to market competitiveness.
The workshop marks an important step in the SAVI approach – helping businesses move from understanding decarbonization to measuring their own footprint and taking practical action to create business value.