The shores of Lake Victoria, where fishermen once docked after a smooth sail in the deep waters, are no longer accessible. Water hyacinth, a fast-spreading invasive plant, floats on the water’s surface, trapping unhygienically dumped plastic waste.
Fishermen are spending more energy rowing boats, more money on fuel and more time on detours to less affected landing sites. Blocked fishing routes, reduced oxygen supply leading to the death of aquatic life, transport disruptions, damaged biodiversity, and increased cases of Malaria resulting from the creation of mosquito breeding sites in stagnant waters have been the order of the day.
It is a chilly morning, and a 62-year-old Mary Adhiambo Otieno, popularly known in Nyangajo village as “Nyamasayi”, which translates to “the daughter of Maasai”, a Luo name she earned because of her fondness for Maasai attire, is in black oversized gumboots, green t-shirt, white overall with the right hand holding a machete, lying on the right shoulder, while the left hand holding a blue handled-bucket. Being a staunch Catholic, she hums a melody synonymous with the denomination as she treks to the lake.
While hyacinth is a curse to many in the community, to Mary, it is a blessing. Her vision of making this invasive weed a communal blessing is evident. Extracting the plant from the waters is a tedious task that requires many hands. Mary is joined by jobless youths whose dependence on her for their livelihood is undeniable.
For over 8 years now, Mary has been converting water hyacinth into charcoal briquettes, a practice which she says, apart from producing clean fuel, is aimed at providing an alternative to traditional wood charcoal, which largely contributes to deforestation across the country. Mary’s project, she says, apart from suppressing the deteriorating effects of climate change in the region, is aimed at fast-tracking the ambitious 10-year government plan of achieving 15 billion trees by 2032 and boosting Kenya’s forest cover by 30%.
A research project by Linah Anyango, Mary’s daughter, now a head teacher at St Austin’s Academy in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, turned out to be a sustainable economic opportunity for her village. Linah travelled home, trained women, registered the organisation, and left her mother, Mary, to take charge.
As a long-serving teacher of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Linah’s contribution has been recognised by the National Government.
“I was given an award by the Ministry of Gender as a climate advocate for my project of converting water hyacinth into charcoal,” she says. “I was also among the top 50 in the 2019 Global Teacher Prize award,” she adds as she clarifies with a smile that “that award that recognised Peter Tabichi as the best.”
It is a story about climate change, women’s innovation/empowerment and the circular economy, where the community is trying to adapt with seemingly useless and ecologically disastrous resources around.
“Converting hyacinth into charcoal to produce clean energy was, therefore, motivated by the challenges that women go through, particularly in the village,” says Linah
Briquette Making Process
This process of turning crisis into fuel for communities relying on the lake for daily bread and that have been tormented for decades, is a blessing.
After filling the buckets with hyacinth, Mary, with the help of other lending hands, ferries sackloads of hyacinth home. At home, the wet piles of hyacinth are dried under the scorching sunlight. Bad weather often stagnates production as hyacinths take longer to dry. This often forces Mary to turn to the donated electric-powered drying machine, whose reliability is not guaranteed due to intermittent power supply and constant outages in the region.
The wet hyacinth plant is filled in a special drum, then left until the carbon smoke is drained.
“The dried hyacinth, now turned to ashes, is later mixed with sticky cassava paste in the form of porridge,” says Mary as she walks around the drying machine.
To avoid food wastage, only the spoiled cassava and cassava skins are used. The cassava skins and spoiled cassava are dried, ground to achieve flour, then cooked as porridge, and then mixed with hyacinth ashes produced from the dryer. The mixing process is aided by a machine that was donated to Mary by GIZ, an organisation working worldwide for sustainable development.
“The mixture leaves the machine compacted, then using knives or bare hands, we cut them into desirable pieces and place them in open sunlight where they dry up and harden before sale,” says Mary, who reiterates that lack of solar has adversely impacted their work.
“Sometimes we go through this entire process only for our briquettes to break or develop a bad smell, thereby going to waste due to an unreliable drying source,” Mary states desperately as she calls for the support of the local government, national government and international organisations that have for decades spent billions in fighting the invasive plant without a laudable success.
According to the United Nations Organisation, the Kenyan government and international partners have, over the last two decades, spent billions of shillings to control the hyacinth in Lake Victoria. In 2019, Kenyan lawmakers probed how Ksh 4 billion was spent even though the hyacinth infestation persisted.
Another Ksh 80 million machine was unveiled by the Ministry of Environment to clear over 15 tons per day in Kisumu. Again, the government, in collaboration with the World Bank, procured an Italian-manufactured water harvester at Ksh 76 million to control the menace.
Still in efforts to combat the stubborn hyacinth, the government of India donated to Kisumu County a harvester worth Ksh 40 million, while the Kenya Maritime Authority introduced a machine worth Ksh 8 million, but all these efforts did not exhaustively solve the challenge. The persistent rebound of the weed has forced new approaches from governments and eco-entrepreneurs like Mary and her daughter Linah.
Efforts like Mary’s not only provide eco-friendly fuel to communities, but also save the aquatic life, as the fast-growing weed that blocks sunlight and depletes oxygen in water, hence affecting the fish population, is pulled out. Moreover, the large masses of the weed that impede water vessel mobility are extracted.
“Hyacinth has blocked the shores closest to us, so we are forced to travel to the farthest shores where fishermen dock to get food. It is also a big loss to fishermen as they spend more time and fuel to get to the alternative shores,” says Mary.
“This plant has made movement difficult,” says the area chief, Emelda Amuata, as she shakes her head in disbelief at the tremendous project that Mary is running in the community.
According to Chief Amuata, the past failed efforts to remove the weed have finally been replaced with a permanent solution that will work if embraced well.
“This plant has kept on returning despite the billions that have been spent to fight it,” she says. “Mary’s approach is different due to the economic value in it, and it requires sensitisation for purposes of collective fight,” says the evidently passionate Emelda.
“My son, I am old, and I wouldn’t want to exit this space without passing this knowledge to others,” states Mary in a soft tone as she requests the relevant government agencies to refer youths to her to be trained on sustainability.
“If only I could be sponsored with a store for storing the final products, a well-covered working space and a solar dryer, I could employ more people, and together we could help in this climate change fight,” says Mary, whose work is constantly hindered by shifting weather patterns due to a lack of a spacious, enclosed working area.
To save the environment from deforestation, Mary has provided an alternative. Mary’s biggest client is The Mango Tree, an organisation based in Kosele, Homabay County, that supports the vulnerable communities through education opportunities and health promotion. The community members also buy the briquettes for domestic use. The Mango Tree organisation, apart from using the briquettes for cooking, uses them in poultry farming to warm the chicken coop. Due to its zero carbon emissions, briquettes provide warmth for chicks.
“We are looking for cleaner and more sustainable alternatives to wood charcoal,” says the organisation representative, who commends Mary for driving a project that solves two environmental problems at the same time.
“She has given us an alternative to cutting trees, which affects the water catchment areas, and at the same time saved the aquatic ecosystem from disaster while providing jobs, in fact, the benefits are three,” says The Mango Tree rep.
Unlike traditional charcoal, which depends on cutting trees, the briquettes rely on an invasive plant that has overwhelmed the waterways. The increasing demand for cooking fuel has exacerbated a continued decline in natural forest cover due to charcoal production and illegal logging, experts have warned.
According to Global Forest Watch, counties surrounding the lake, such as Migori, Homabay, Kisumu, Siaya and Busia, contributed largely to deforestation. In 2025, Migori County lost 3.0 ha of natural forest, Homabay County lost 12 ha of natural forest, Kisumu County lost 9.0 ha of natural forest, Siaya County lost 20 ha of natural forest, and Busia County lost 6.0 ha of natural forest.
Linah, the brain behind the hyacinth project, believes that the alternative fuel can ease the pressure.
“I used to cook with gas and firewood, but I no longer do that because I am mindful of the future generation’s environment,” says Linah, who reiterates that some organisations use coconut, sugar cane remains, but she deliberately settled on hyacinth because it is a problem that she wants out of her village.
“I buy uniforms and pay school fees for a neighbouring grade 10 boy whose parents are physically challenged. I have bought and connected a water pump in my compound, among many other achievements, courtesy of this project,” says the proudly smiling Mary, whose satisfaction goes beyond selfless service.
Women are bent in Mary’s compound with hands blackened with briquettes. Two Boda Boda riders who are part of the larger beneficiaries of this circular economy are approaching the gate to load sacks of briquettes on their motorcycles for delivery. On the side, pungent smoke is evident from the chimney, a sign that drying is ongoing.
Despite the passion, challenges are visible. Production is largely manual; the lack of weighing machines leads to significant losses in sales. Reception by some community members is still low, as they prefer wood charcoal over briquettes.
“People tend to stick to what they know over new things,” says Linah as she registers optimism that they (villagers) will ultimately accept the briquettes.
“Just two briquettes at Ksh 20 each can fit a small jiko and will burn for a whole 8 hours, and it does not release carbon as is the case with wood charcoal or firewood,” says Linah as she highlights other benefits of briquettes.
To woo the community, Mary has launched a project to make special Clay Jikos that use briquettes. As clients purchase the Jiko, they purchase briquettes as well.
Presently, Mary can produce up to 10 bags per week, and a bag sells at Ksh 2500. Chief Amuata’s plea to the government and well-wishers is to invest in Mary’s project and fast-track the extraction process of the hyacinth from the lake, whose economic impact is national.
As daylight sun fades, from a distance, patches of water shimmer where hyacinth once blocked. The extracted plants lie dry in Mary’s verandah. She insists that environmental conservation is a practical venture as opposed to abstract ideas discussed in conferences that gobble up hard-earned taxpayers’ money.
“I have not gone to school that much, but passion drives me,” Mary declares.
Despite Mary’s lack of advanced education, her zeal for a better living space has led her to big roles. Serving as the Improved Stove Association (ISAC) and SHOFCO chairperson in Homabay County, among several other climate change movements, 62 years has been a blessing to her.
“This project is proof that solution of challenges we face are amidst us,” says Mary as she points to the briquettes lying in the compound.
Behind her, women are busy moulding briquettes. The plant that has long suffocated the waters has found value. However, there is a growing demand in Nairobi, but transportation means are a challenge. Mary phones her daughter Linah, who tours home in Kendu Bay from time to time to monitor the project.
A once-renowned ecological destroyer is slowly becoming a means of survival, and the community cannot hide its smile. Heavily premised on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, 13 Climate Action and 14 Life Below Water, briquette fuel from water hyacinth is noticeably changing the face of Lake Victoria and its environs.
