For many communities in southern Africa, cooking is done on open fires using charcoal and large logs. This way of cooking presents challenges however. Inhalation of smoke is associated with health risks and much time needs to be spent collecting wood and charcoal which leaves less time for other work. Unfortunately, it is often the women living in rural areas who suffer the most.
The good news is that, following a Peace Parks initiative, many local communities, including the Simalaha Community Conservancy, have traded their old cooking practices for fuel-efficient cookstoves that have been provided in collaboration with Commonland. Around 9500 stoves have been distributed to the communities, allowing for more efficient cooking. When compared to traditional cooking methods, these stoves reduce the consumption of wood and charcoal by approximately 30% and function well with only a few small twigs. This means more time to spend on other activities which benefits the whole family. Another result of needing less fuel, is that it also reduces smoke inhalation, which offers great health benefits too.
Reports from the community confirmed the stoves’ efficacy: water takes between three and five minutes to boil, and farmers are able to use small twigs to cook with, instead of traditional logs. One huge benefit is that, as the stoves cook faster and use less fuel, it enables youngsters, most commonly women and girls, who are usually responsible for cooking and wood collection, to dedicate more time to education. So, using the stove contributes to significant savings not only of time, both for cooking and collecting firewood, but also money which can be utilised for other needs like education, healthcare, and income-generating activities.
In addition, a carbon credit model is being implemented that will convert this clean cooking into a direct monetary return for the communities. With one stove costing only around 26$ (5-600 kwatcha in local currency), they are a financially viable alternative. This initial outlay can even be paid off using carbon credits which provides funding for conservancy operations.
Cookstoves are also great news for the environment. Not only so they help the communities, they also reduce the greenhouse gas emittance by 80% when compared to cooking on traditional open fires and prevent deforestation through the excessive chopping down of trees for charcoal and firewood.
