Jabenzi focuses on ecological restoration (the restoration of natural capital - see RNC Alliance: www.rncalliance.org), food, water, and energy security. Why? Simply since it is believed that rural economic development comprises these four elements, as depicted in the figure below - for a more detailed perspective, click here.

The Economic Development House

• The land is our fundamental resource; it is where we derive all our livelihood needs from.  Once that is degraded, the development of the livelihood of the people who depend on it is seriously compromised.  For much of southern Africa’s rural areas the land is heavily degraded due to a variety of reasons.  Without a regional restoration project, the future economic prospects of those living on it are bleak.  The land HAS to be restored if we would like to have any hope for any restoration and/or development of rural economies.  A restored land becomes the pre-requisite for what is to follow.  Several ecological restoration projects are running in South Africa, albeit on a small scale.  It is not impossible to envision a national and regional restoration project as a public works endeavour together with private concerns.
• People’s most essential economic development needs (the pillars for development) are food, water, and energy.  These pillars determine the quality of life, self-esteem, and the ability to participate in the economy at a higher level.
• Once food, water and energy security are in place (or being put in place) as the development pillars one can establish local businesses and achieve true sustainable development by activating/facilitating/stimulating new businesses, which could be food, water and energy-related, but could also be others.

BREAKING NEWS:

PREFABRICATED BIOGAS DIGESTER

JABENZI and AGAMA Energy established a partnership to install biogas digesters using the BioPro prefabricated digester.  This digester is ideal for homes, small scale industries and restaurants. Digesters use either sewer waste or biodegradable material, i.e. kitchen and garden waste, to generate methane gas that can be used in a  gas stove, for example.   For more information on the digesters, please consider:

•  the overview document,
• or the data sheet.

For more information, or a quote in Gauteng and surroundings,

please call James Blignaut - 084 720 4127.

BREAKING NEWS:

CONSTRUCTED FERRO-CEMENT BIOGAS DIGESTER & RAIN WATER HARVESTING TANK

Jabenzi, in collaboration with Dams for Africa, constructed a 6m³ ferro-cement biogas digester and 22m³ rain water harvesting tank at Hope for Africa Mission at Siyabuswa.

Click here to download a poster in JPG format (2,4MB).

This is  a unique crossover between technologies and applications using ferro-cement in both the construction of a digester and a rain water harvesting tank.  The digester and tank is to be used in conjunction with a food (vegetable) garden, to be a living experiment and example of the philosophy that to cure Africa's woe's we have to combat food, energy and water insecurity and that, through very simple yet appropriate technologies such is possible on a very limited budget.  Construction time for both the digester and the tank is approximately 10 days, can be done in conjunction with local artisans and cost between R20,000 and R30,000, pending the difficulty of the terrain and the travel distance.

For more information, please call James Blignaut - 084 720 4127.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Members of Jabenzi are heavily engaged in rural development and in a range of projects and initiatives to advance the development of the abovementioned house.  The work done is grounded in fundamental scientific research and published in academic peer–reviewed publications and papers.

Each water, food, energy, and/or restoration project, however, can, and actually should be, ring-fenced.  Each of these projects makes sense economically, socially, and environmentally on its own, within the bigger picture and the synergies among them.  To give effect to these ideas Jabenzi is developing a suite of projects in conjunction with local as well as international agencies.  As is evident from above energy, and particularly renewable energy, is a key focus area of our business.  Over the past number of years, clients included, with projects related to energy, electricity, climate change and economic development in general:

1.    National government departments such as the Department for Minerals and Energy, Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, National Treasury, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Water Affairs and Forestry, and Agriculture. 

2.       Provincial governments and local authorities.

3.       The Working for Water program.

4.       Large industrial concerns such as:

a.       SAPPI,

b.       Sovereign Foods,

c.        Country Bird, and

d.       SAFCOL.

5.       Various non-listed companies operating in renewable energy such as Surge Pro.

6     We currently have renewable energy projects in various stages of development in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the DRC, Mozambique, and Nigeria.

Most of these studies or projects involved feasibility and cost-benefit assessments concerning the provision of waste to energy scenarios that included recommendations related to technology, capital and operating cost, logistics and process.   A selection of some of the relevant recent publications is (a comprehensive list is available on request):

Academic papers:

1.      Blignaut, J.N. and De Wit, M.P.  1999. Integrating Environmental and Ecological Economics into the Macroeconomic Policy Arena. Agrekon, 38(3):374-394.

2.       De Wit, M.P. and Blignaut, J.N. 2000.  How the Capital Theory Approach can aid Sustainable Development. Agrekon, 39(1):113-125.

3.       Blignaut, J.N. and De Wet, T. 2001.  Some recommendations towards reducing electricity consumption in the South African manufacturing sector. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 4(2):359-379.

4.      Blignaut, J.N. and King, N.A.  2002.  The externality cost of coal combustion in South Africa.  Forum for Economic and Environment.  Bridging the Economics/Environment divide conference. Published peer reviewed conference proceedings.  ISBN 1-86854-437-0. Forum for Economic and Environment, First conference held in Cape Town: 71-86.

5.       Blignaut. J. and Zunkel, M.  2004.  The cost of a decline in air quality.  In Blignaut, J.N. and De Wit, M.P. (Eds.).  2004.  Sustainable Options. Cape Town: UCT Press.

6.       Blignaut J.N., Mabugu, R.M. and Chitiga-Mabugu, M.R.  2005.  Constructing a Greenhouse gas emissions inventory using energy balances: The case of South Africa: 1998. Journal of energy in southern Africa. 16(3):105-116.

7.       Van Heerden, J.H., Gerlagh, R. Blignaut, J.N., Hess, S., Mabugu, R., Chitiga, M. and De Wet, T.  2006.  Fighting CO₂ and poverty while promoting growth: Searching for triple dividends in South Africa? The Energy Journal, 27(2):113-141.

8.       Van Heerden, J.H., Blignaut, J.N., Mabugu, M., Gerlagh, R., Hess, S., Tol, R.S.J., Horridge, M., Mabugu, R., De Wit, M.P. and Letsoalo, A. 2006.  Redistributing environmental tax revenue to reduce poverty in South Africa: the cases of energy and water.  South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 9(4):537-552.

9.     Ueckermann, L., Blignaut, J.N., Gupta, R. and Raubenheimer, J.  2008.  Modelling preferences of South African grain farmers for adopting derivative contracts using discrete choice models. Agrekon, 47(2):222-239.

10.   Ueckermann, L., Blignaut, J.N. and Gupta, R.  2009.  A panel bargaining model within the regional boundaries of the South African grain industry. The Icfai University Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. 6(1):40-55.

11.  Nel, D.C., Marais, C. and Blignaut, J.N.  2009. Investing in water: Evidence from a Water Neutral program in South Africa. Conservation Letters, 2:11-18.

12.   Blignaut, J.N., Ueckermann, L. and Aronson, J.  2009. Agriculture production’s sensitivity to changes in climate in South Africa. South African Journal of Science. 105:61-68.

13.   Blignaut, J.N. 2009. Fixing both the symptoms and causes of degradation: The need for an integrated approach to economic development and restoration.  Journal of Arid Environments, 73:696–698.

14.  Mmopelwa, G., Blignaut, J., and Hassan, R.  2009. Direct use values of selected vegetation resources in the Okavango delta wetland. SAJEMS. 12(2):242-255.

15.   Blignaut, J.N. and Van Heerden, J.N. 2009. The impact of water scarcity on economic development initiatives. WaterSA, 35(4):415-420.

16.   Aronson, J., Blignaut, J., de Groot, R., Clewell, A., Lowry II, P., Woodworth, P., Renison, D., Tongway, D., Cowling, R., Fontaine, C., de Wit, M., Farley, J., Levy, S., Milton, S., Rangel, O., Debrincat, B., and Birkinshaw, C.  2009. The Road to Sustainability Must Bridge Three Great Divides. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, in press.

Consultancy reports:

1.       Blignaut, J.N. 2001. The allocation of the benefits from CDM projects within South Africa. Research paper prepared for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism as part of the ATRIP project on clean development mechanisms.  (USAID sponsored research).

2.       Blignaut, J.N. (contributing author). Development of a framework for an environmental tax / charge policy in South Africa.  Research report for the National Treasury of South Africa.

3.       Blignaut, J.N. 2004. (contributing author). The economic impact of a change in electricity tariffs on the economy of South Africa.  Study done for the National Electricity Regulator.

4.       Austin, G. and Blignaut, J.N. 2006.  (contributing authors). The hydrogen economy and fuel cell technologies research and development strategy development.  Department of Science and Technology strategy working group.

5.       Blignaut, J.N. 2006. (contributing author). Designing a pro-poor, pro-growth electricity-based environmental tax.  Study for the National Treasury in co-operation with the Institute for Environmental Studies, Free University, Amsterdam.

6.       Blignaut, J.N. 2007. (contributing author). A feasibility assessment for carbon sequestration projects in Transfrontier conservation areas within sub-Saharan Africa.  Study for the Peace Parks Foundation.

7.       Austin, G. and Blignaut, J.N. 2007. Biogas for a better life: an African initiative: feasibility study for a national domestic biogas programme in South Africa.  Study for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Minerals and Energy.

8.       Blignaut, J.N. and Austin, G. 2007. Assessing the integrated chicken manure management and energy options for Sovereign Foods.  Study for the JSE-listed Sovereign Foods.

9.    Blignaut, J.N. and Austin, G. 2008. Assessing the integrated chicken manure management and energy options for Country Bird.  Study for the JSE-listed Country Bird.

 Through the experience gained by being involved in processes and networks, and by being involved in energy and climate change related projects, Jabenzi has gained invaluable experience in conceptualising, assessing and delivering sustainable energy-related projects across a wide range of sectors.

With our partners, AGAMA Energy and IZANLA Investments, we offer clients a one-stop shop concerning energy related projects, which includes:

1      The identification and assessment of alternative energy generation options,

2      The conduct of a cost-benefit assessment with regard to the suite of energy supply, demand-side alternatives and additional beneficiation,

3      The determination of the carbon-baseline and the possible carbon offset opportunity of each of the alternatives,

4      The development of the project as a carbon project by developing the respective PIN and PDD documents,

5      The marketing of the carbon credits,

6      The development of an optimal finance package, and

7      The management of the implementation of the proposed project.

How could we serve you in the field of renewable energy and

economic development?