Energy-saving cooking stoves for the staff and community

20 Jul 2017

Many Kenyan communities have over the years relied on wood for cooking and heating, but with this resource becoming scarce by the day, people are having to think of alternatives. Most women in the rural communities spend most of their time (75% day time activity) looking for firewood and water. This has led to a rapid depletion of the forests, and the natural bushes. There have been a lot of concerted efforts to increase the forest cover in Kenya with the target being to get to 10% forest cover, against the current less than 3%.
Tambuzi saw this need within our staff and the community around us, given that the farm is in a rural area of Kenya. We approached and partnered with Flamingo Horticulture and their UK customer, Coop, to provide fuel efficient cooking stoves at a great subsidy. The partnership involved buying Carbon Credits from the South Pole Group and converting the credits into these stoves.
The project will see 100 stoves distributed in the area around the farm, with the cost subsidized from a cost of Kshs. 3,300 to Kshs 750.
The project will improve lives in the following ways;
• Using the efficient stoves reduces the exposure to smoke from indoor cooking, limiting dangerous pollutants and respiratory diseases.
• Time spent otherwise by the communities in collecting firewood can be spent on education and other income generating activities.
• The project reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, in addition to lowering indoor air pollution levels.
• The stoves reduce firewood use by around 50%. This reduction in firewood use prevents deforestation and soil erosion.