Climate Entrepreneurship in East Africa with Beau Milliken

Beau is an  engineering-minded entrepreneur who is driven by impact and uses business as the conduit to change the world for the better. East Africa’s energy crisis requires a scalable solution that can be implement now – and that’s what they have focused on with Kijani Forestry. In this episode we speak about: > KIJANI FORESTRY, INNOVATIVE FARMING TECHNIQUES > Climate Entrepreneurship, COMBATING DEFORESTATION IN EAST AFRICA > The Positives and Challenges of operating a business in Uganda and Africa at large > Following the social impact and passion to contribute to the world at large Uganda sees 500,000 acres deforested every year with the majority of it going to the charcoal industry, which is an industry riddled with waste and inefficiencies and is ripe for disruption. By implementing cost-effective efficient kiln technology, they are able to increase yields by 4x traditional methods meaning that ¼ of the trees are needed for the same amount of charcoal. Also they designed a Nursery Hub model that empowers local communities to be trained in agroforestry planting of biodiverse tree species on a large scale, helping grow the future supply of Uganda’s energy. They are a for-profit social enterprise looking to expand our impact through a profitable business model while reversing the trend of deforestation in East Africa through sustainable jobs and disrupting an industry that’s doing massive environmental harm.