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MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING DESIGN ART AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENTOF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

COURSE CODE: ELE1112

TOPIC: LIVELIHOOD DERVISIFICATION

SUBTOPIC: Proposing new ways to break dependence on one source of livelihood

WIKIPEDIA GROUP MEMBERS

MIREMBE BETTY 17/U/ 18521/PS

MUGAMBWA PADDY 17/U/6259/PSA

SIKOOTI PONEPONE 17/U/10035/PSA

MURAMUZI ADAM 17/U/6587/PS

AHUMUZA BRIAN 17/U/2223/PS

LECTURER: Eng. Dr. Okello Dorothy

Asst. Lecturer: Mr. Budigiri Gerald

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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. 2

FOREWORD AND PREFACE............................................................................................................................ 2

WORK PLAN FOR THE WIKIPEDIA GROUP MEMBERS ................................................................................... 2

Code of conduct .............................................................................................................................2

Statistics of livelihood in Mbarara district .................................................................................................... 3

Biogas plant digester ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................3

Branches of electrical engineering involved in the project .......................................................................... 3

Power: ...........................................................................................................................................3

Project description ........................................................................................................................................ 4

Benefits of the project .................................................................................................................................. 4

Key beneficiaries ........................................................................................................................................... 4

FLOW HIVE .................................................................................................................................................... 5

How it works ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Advantages .................................................................................................................................................... 6

CHALLENGES DURING THE PROJECTS. .......................................................................................................... 6

CONTRIBUTIONS OF EACH MEMBER. ........................................................................................................... 6

References .................................................................................................................................................... 7

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Wikipedia group would like to thank its members for their tireless efforts contributed

towards this special output. It is also appreciative to its members for their precious time,

financial support, research and coordination towards this achievement.

Special gratitude goes to our introduction to electrical engineering lecturers Dr. Dorothy Okello

and Mr. Budigiri Gerald for parental mentoring and the academic advice provided to us. We

cannot take for granted the divine knowledge provided by the Almighty God and also applaud

Him for life given to us.

The group management would like to acknowledge all stake holders who were consulted and

interviewed during research and all ho discussed the draft of the projects layout. You efforts

were invaluable.

FOREWORD AND PREFACE

One of the concerns of the local farmers in villages of Mbarara district, Rubaya sub-county prior

to the eradicating poverty and achieving vision 2040 is lack of detailed information about cheap

means of making money and breaking dependence on only subsistence farming. In order to

address this common cause, our group ‘Wikipedia group’ mandates to prepare and implement the

two projects ‘biogas and flow hive projects’.

This simple handbook has been prepared for use of farmers, local Ugandans, for a

comprehensive coverage of advantages, mode of action, and goals for a particular project. The

literate, illiterate, local farmers and educationists should find this booklet useful. It has presented

in the most user friendly English with a few physics terminologies.

It is our sincere hope that this project booklet will meet will meet peoples’ needs in fulfillment to

prosperity goal and vision 2040.

WORK PLAN FOR THE WIKIPEDIA GROUP MEMBERS

DATE ACITIVITY

27th September Created the group

4th October Choose the topic

6th October Allocation of sections to handle to member

7th – 15th October Research and field study

18th October Feedback from members

26th October Compiling of ideas

1st – 4th November Writing the report

Code of conduct

All members must be present at every meeting being held unless otherwise,

All ideas are welcomed so don’t hold back any idea,

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Every member is supposed to carry out enough research about the assigned section and group

meetings were held twice a week.

Statistics of livelihood in Mbarara district

The majority of households (69 percent) derived their livelihood from subsistence farming. Only

27% of the households depended on earned income. In Mbarara district 52% of the households

use the Tadooba as the source of light, On the other hand, wood fuel was the most common fuel

used for cooking. [1i]

The people in, Mbarara district illiteracy prevents them from getting blue and white color jobs

which require qualifications. Hence end up stack in agriculture as the only source of income. [2]

Biogas plant digester

Introduction

Most people in Mbarara district are highly dependent on subsistence farming, livestock

production hence making them prone to climate changes. Following this we proposed biogas

production as one of the way of breaking dependence on one source of livelihood since it has

large animal farms that generate a substantial amount of manure, this makes the district the best

site for the production of biogas.

Biogas refers to a mixture of different gases produced by breakdown of organic matter in the

absence of oxygen.it is produced from raw materials such as green waste, municipal waste,

agriculture waste among others,

Branches of electrical engineering involved in the project

Power: This is a branch of engineering that deals with creation, storage and distribution of

electricity for industrial, commercial, residential and municipal use.

This can be applied in conversion of biogas to electrical energy by a biogas electric generator

Currently renewable energy accounts for one fifth of the overall energy consumption used

around the world. Forestry, crops, sewage, industrial residue, animal waste, and municipal waste

are all used to create the biogas renewable energy. Traditionally biogas was used for cooking and

heating purposes but these days it is being used for a number of other things as well. By the year

2050 it is thought that biogas will account for around one third of all energy.

Deforestation is the result of trees being cut down and used as fuel for fires in areas where there

is no access to electricity. With biogas, the waste that would be there anyway can be used to

create fuel. This means that trees do not have to be cut down and plants do not have to be

damaged. [3]

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Project description

Organic materials and wastes are placed in the digester (large tank), and the bacteria in the

digester breaks them down to methane through a process of anaerobic digestion. Each day the

operator of the biogas system feeds the digester with household wastes. The methane gas

produced is passed through a combustion engine to run the turbines to produce power in an

electric generator. The design of the generator is the same as an electric motor. The biogas is

then collected off from the gas outlet pipe and used for cooking lighting and other energy needs.

The wastes which are not full digested are collect from the system and used as fertilizer.

Benefits of the project

It is a way of getting rid of wastes which would be rather costly and environmental hazards.

By putting a digester into your waste treatment chain, the farmers earn income. Much as

manure is not considered to be a waste but fertilizer, if processed to produce biogas farmers earn

income and also reduce odors on theirs farms.

When waste is fed into the digester to produce biogas, the output waste can be used as liquid

fertilizer.

Improvement of health arising from avoidance of smoke, quality fertilizer and time saving

among others. [4]

Key beneficiaries

Farmer with crops now can earn an extra income from selling the remains from their gardens

after harvesting their crops; even after a bad harvest a farmers can still sell the remains to the bio

gas manufacturers in their village and still get income to sustain their lives.

Also farmers with animals earn after selling their animals manure to the bio gas manufacturers,

this diversifies their income sources not only in animals but also in selling there byproduct’s or

animals remains after collecting them from the animal farms.

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Since biogas production does not require high educated people, the people in Mbarara will be

able to be employed to work in the biogas plant, reducing on the unemployment in the district,

Not only will the people learn skills on biogas production process but also will learn how to

market and get customers to buy the biogas and consume it, enabling them to earn extra income

and be able to start up there plants with time.

With the production of electricity from the plants, people of the village can acquire affordable

power, enabling them to use electricity powered devices, like mobile phones enabling them to

stay connected to the market places.

FLOW HIVE

Is a new design of a bee hive which enables farmers to harvest honey when its ready without

dismantling the hive, the honey is pure doesn't need any processing.

In Uganda we use the tradition method of bee keeping. This requires the keeper to monitor the

hives, checking the conditions and see whether the honey is ready. All this keeps the keeper busy

and not allowing him time to attend to his other businesses or get involved in any.[5]

How it works

the hive is designed with double walled plastic frames on which the bees build the wax and fill

the with honey, it consists of a tap, presto, which is turned and the honey flows through the walls

and drains through the collect down, which lead the honey to the outlet at the bottom then its

gathered off by the bee keeper.

The bee smart is a high tech monitoring platform placed along the walls of the hive to be

analyzed. It is equipped with sensors that monitor the sounds, vibrations and heat of the hive plus

the weight of the honey.

The bee smart is connect to a mobile app that receives all the information from the device and

informs the farmers when the honey is ready to harvest in case of any abnormalities,

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[6]

Advantages

The farmers gets lots of time to create other sources of income without worrying of his bees.

The hive increasing the times the keepers harvest the honey. This because the combs are already

designed for the bee.

It reduces risks of bee stinging.

CHALLENGES DURING THE PROJECTS.

We had challenges acquiring statistics as the one UNBS has were for 2014 which are outdated.

Lack of knowledge on writing reports delayed us as we had to go and study how to write one.

Failure to meet some of the scheduled meeting, due to university programs like tests and

assignments.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF EACH MEMBER.

MIREMBE BETTY; I chaired the group meetings where each member was allocated a section

to handle. Furthermore, I also researched about the benefits and challenges of the biogas project.

Following the project, I learnt how to work in teams.

SIKOOTI PONEPONE; I was the group secretary and therefore compiled all the group

members’ findings. I also researched about the operation of the flow hive and its major

beneficiaries. I acquired research skills and how to work as a group. Knowledge about bees.

MURAMUZI ADAM; I researched about the about the advantages of the flow hive and also

compiled the acknowledgement, preface and foreword. This project has improved my interpersonal

skills and co-operation with group mates; it has enhanced my research skills.

AHUMUZA BRIAN; I analyzed the different branches of engineering to apply during our

project and the key beneficiaries of the bio gas plant digester project. Hence forth, the project

enabled me learn that engineering is applicable in the real world; thus, can be used to solve day

to day problems in a scientific way.

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MUGAMBWA PADDY; I researched about the operation of the biogas plant digester and also

looked out for the cheapest and highly profitable ways of using it. The project has broadened my

knowledge on how to put renewable resources to their full use. It has also taught me on has to

build a bio gas plant and how to operate it.

References

[1] Uganda bureau of statistics 2017,characteristics of households, National

Population and Housing Census 2014 Area Specific Profiles,pg 4

[2]Uganda bureau of statistics 2017,Education and illiteracy status, National

Population and Housing Census 2014 Area Specific Profiles,pg 21

[3]Rainbows Tanks, The importance of Biogas as renewable energy

source.,Internet:http://www.rainbowtanks.co.za/importance-biogas-renewableenergy-

source/,March 17, 2016

[4]Daily monitor, helping people embrace biogas as a source of energy,

Internet:http://www.monitor.co.ug/Business/Technology/688612-2729038-

729mef/index.html, MONDAY MAY 25 2015

[5] Ben Ochan,Ugandan journalist, Bee keeping in Uganda,

Internet:http://www.new-ag.info/00-5/focuson/focuson2.html,

[6]https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flow-hive-honey-on-tap-directly-from-yourbeehive-

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