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Availability and spatial distribution of crop and forest biomass residues for biochar production in Kenya

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Abstract

Uptake of biochar for fuel briquetting and soil amendment is constrained in sub-Saharan Africa by inadequate knowledge of the quantity and distribution of feedstocks. This study assessed the quantities and spatial distribution of crop and forest residues available for biochar production in Kenya based on productivity data from 2021 and 2022. The residues were quantified using residue product ratios, surplus available factors and economically viable factors. Kenya produces (0.5–2.4) × 107 Mg y−1 of crop residues and (1.48–1.8) × 105 Mg y−1 of forest residues that are potentially available for biochar production. While crop and forest production are the core drivers of the availability of economically viable residues, residue to product ratios and surplus available factors are the primary drivers of residue densities. Crop residues were concentrated in counties located in western, central and southern Kenya. While all counties possess diverse types of residues, maize stalks were prevalent in all 47 counties. No county satisfied the combined requirements of high amounts of residues, high residue density and low supply uncertainties. Therefore, although Kenya has abundant and diverse residues that could produce economically viable biochar, locating production facilities will require a trade-off between counties with high residue densities, or those with supply uncertainty.

Data availability

The datasets used or analysed during the current study are attached as a supplementary material in excel file.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the director of Kenya Forestry research Institute for writing data requisition letters to the ministry of agriculture and livestock development and Kenya forest service.

Funding

This research was part of PhD study that received funding from Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in the UK (KECS-2022–183).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, Scotland, UK

    Timothy Namaswa, David F. R. P. Burslem, Jo Smith & Jennifer Wardle

  2. Kenya Forestry Research Institute, P. O. Box 64636–00620, Nairobi, Kenya

    Timothy Namaswa, Nellie Oduor, George Muthike & Faith Malei

  3. Interdisciplinary Institute, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK

    Timothy Namaswa & David F. R. P. Burslem

  4. School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Fraser Noble Building, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, Scotland, UK

    Timothy Namaswa & Waheed Afzal

  5. Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development KE, P. O. Box 30028-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

    Leonard Kubok

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  1. Timothy Namaswa
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  2. David F. R. P. Burslem
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  3. Jo Smith
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Contributions

Timothy Namaswa conceptualized, designed and developed the first draft of the manuscript. David Burslem, Jo Smith and Waheed Afzal designed the study. Nelie Oduor and George Muthike used their networks for us to obtain data. Faith Malei compiled the collected data. Leonard Kubok provided data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. Timothy and Jennifer Wardle did data analysis and visualisation. All authors reviewed and revised the manuscript article for its content and approved the final version for submission.

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Timothy Namaswa.

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Namaswa, T., Burslem, D.F.R.P., Smith, J. et al. Availability and spatial distribution of crop and forest biomass residues for biochar production in Kenya.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-42350-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-42350-0

Keywords

  • Biochar
  • Crop residues
  • Forest residues
  • Spatial distribution
  • Economic residues

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