The history of Ibi Village is linked to that of the population of the high plains of the Batéké, which go back far in time and cover vast areas. From the 1980s, Mr. Paul Mahamwe Mushiete (founder of the Novacel sprl company) defined the first contours of a land development program in the Batéké plateau, giving priority to social and environmental aspects (livestock, crops, sustainable protection of forests).
When he died, his sons, Olivier and Thierry, aided by individuals, companies, associations and universities, made Ibi a unique place for development and university research in the DRC.
Despite a long period of political instability, in 1999 they managed to join forces with a first institutional donor, which allowed them to carry out a major feasibility study on the exploitation of water resources. This study, financed by the Walloon Region, proved the abundance and the high quality of the water coming from the sources. It also showed that an agro-forestry project was feasible in the Ibi Village domain, meeting the needs of drinking water as well as water for irrigation and maintenance.
The Walloon Region continued its commitment and built the water pumping station and a water supply network. This project, combined with the investments made by Novacel since 1998, laid the foundations for integrated rural development.
For the implementation of this project, Novacel was able to count on the financial support of both companies (Umicore and SUEZ-Tractebel (now ENGIE)) and private individuals, who invested not only money but also their time and expertise.
The first trees were planted in 2008.
The objectives were as follows:
- to plant trees and manioc on 4,200 ha according to the agro-forestry method in cooperation with the local population.
- setting up the necessary infrastructure, particularly in the fields of healthcare and education
- finance the project with the sale of carbon credits and manioc
In February 2011, Ibi Village reached a milestone: it became the first private project in DRC to be registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), allowing the CO2 stored in the planted trees to be traded as carbon credits.
Unfortunately, despite all efforts, the financial breakeven was not achieved. Due to the economic crisis in 2008, the revenues from carbon credits were lower than expected and the sale of manioc could not compensate for this, while the costs (planting, operation and commercialization) were higher in reality. Therefore, in 2015, it was decided to no longer work with salaried workers, but with “partner farmers”, with whom the income is shared. These farmers cultivate a piece of land on condition that this is done according to the agroforestry method. After a year, the crops are harvested and the trees continue to grow until they reach the age where they no longer absorb any extra CO2 (7 years). Then they are transformed into charcoal and commercialized on the Kinshasa market. This is a form of renewable energy for 3 reasons:
- by making charcoal from recently planted trees, the natural forest remains intact
- After felling, the trees regenerate spontaneously and a new 7-year cycle starts.
- the trees store more CO2 in 7 years than is released during the transformation to charcoal
In 2015, a new structure, Mushiete & co, was set up to house the entire Ibi Village domain (about 9,000 ha) and the trees already planted. The partners of Mushiete & co are Olivier, Thierry and Pascale Mushiete, as well as those who have supported the project financially since its creation and who have agreed to convert their financing into shares.
Mushiete & cie then entrusted the management of Ibi Village to the NGO Gi-Agro under the supervision of Professor Jean Lejoly, who has been actively involved in the implementation and promotion of the concept since its launch.
The conversion to this new business model guarantees the continued planting of the Batéké plateau and thus contributes to the well-being of the local population.