Watts Up Magazine wattsup magazine online | Page 21

WOMEN IN ENERGY AWARDS
Grace Rie with her son receiving the Innovation Award
She recalls struggling to sit upright with agonising
back pain as a new mother holding her two- month-
old son when applying for the awards. That was just
two hours to the application deadline but she not only
managed to apply, she won.
One of key innovations is the use of local materials that now
covers over 70% of our product. Our quality has improved
tremendously with banks now loaning our customers to help
them acquire the Bio-digesters
Bias
Gender discrimination & bias, and late payments by clients have been
her greatest challenges. She admits that in some cases her ability has been
undermined by clients because of being a woman in a male dominated field.
Some of the strategic partnerships that she has had in her projects are with the
Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers (KENFAP) and Kenya Biogas
Program. The two have had great impact on small farmers and Grace
biogas producers.
receiving her award with her son
Grace hopes to see more women participating in the sector and also to bring more
women on board in her biogas technology project
WATTS UP MAGAZINE APR - MAY 2017
21