Uncovering Biogas Outcomes: Tales of Hubris, Hope, and Failure From Southern Malawi

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to speak directly to biogas failure. Over the past two decades, immense amounts of money have been spent by African governments, private individuals, and most conspicuously, international aid agencies and donors, on countless biogas projects in every country on the continent. Yet, despite the investments, biogas has not taken off, and the continent is strewn with the ruins of hundreds of failed and abandoned biogas projects. Moreover, scholarly literature contains little feedback about what actually happens on the ground, and by extension, a lack of critical reflection as to why a biogas revolution that has been perennially over the horizon has yet to arrive. Focusing on southern Malawi, and combining detailed, qualitative, narrative investigation with owners and providers, with on‐site socio‐technical investigation, we unpack 61 in‐depth case studies of small‐scale biogas provision in order to provide narrative descriptions of the practical outcomes of biogas projects from the perspective of adopters and users, in addition to analysis of project outcomes across different models of project implementation. Our findings center the importance of active, engaged owners, but also reveal a connection between the structural nature of specific biogas projects, the relationship of the user to the plant, and the project's resultant outcomes. So although owners matter, different project structures have the ability to create empowered, engaged biogas owners, or conversely, to place them in positions of limited power and influence which can exacerbate project weaknesses. As a consequence, we question the role of top‐down development models within biogas provision and propose alternative pathways for international organizations, such as providing technical knowledge or through support to biogas providers installing for paying and engaged owners, which may be more successful in promoting the development and sustainability of biogas technology.