ICD members reach the ‘Roof of Africa’

Having braved fatigue, sleep deprivation, altitude mountain sickness due to lack of oxygen and sub zero temperatures, a six-member team from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a group of the Islamic Development Bank, successfully reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The group scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world on June 13. The journey to the “Roof of Africa” took a grueling seven days via the Lemosho route, one out of the seven available routes to the Uhuru Peak.
The team’s climb was to raise funds for a village in the Kalale region in the Republic of Benin, a poor, dry region in the northern part of the country with population of approximately 100,000 people — none of whom have access to the electrical grid.
ICD will be working closely with Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), a cutting-edge, independent non-for-profit organization that designs and implements sustainable energy solutions.
The joint effort hoped to realize the generation of "whole village" solar electrification projects offering power for water pumping and purification, drip irrigation, health clinics (including vaccine refrigeration), schools, household and community lighting, and income-generating micro-enterprises.
Khaled Al-Aboodi, the CEO and general manager of ICD, said: “We not only expect our staff to work hard toward the mission and vision of ICD but also encourage them to give back to society by doing social and charitable work such as this project. We are very happy with the team’s achievement and we wish them all the best in their fund-raising efforts and implementation process.”
The economy in Kalale region is mainly based on agriculture with more than 95 percent of the population involved in small scale farming. Despite its great potential, crop production in Kalale remains weak and hopelessly vulnerable to changing natural conditions due to the six-month dry season that runs from November through April each year.
The challenge was to find a way to overcome the endemic lack of water and agricultural produce that condemns the people of Kalale to an endless cycle of poverty and poor health.
To address the issue, SELF, in November 2007, partnered with Association pour le Developpement Economique Social et Culturel de Kalalé (ADESCA) to launch a remarkable pilot project, installing an innovative solar-powered drip irrigation system to pump water for food crops. SELF engineers developed a 1.2 kW solar electric power supply that provides 100 percent of the energy for the pump.
The two villages that benefited from this pilot project are Dunkassa and Bessassi.
The Program on Food Security and the Environment (FSE), Stanford University conducted an economic and environmental assessment of SELF’s multisectoral intervention in the Republic of Benin. And they found it is cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.
“This solar market garden as well as the whole village solar electrification project may be the eco-friendly solution to ending energy poverty, increasing food security and women empowerment” exclaimed one member of the team.