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Mud stoves to check deforestation in tobacco-growing zones
2007-12-29 09:03:50
By Guardian Correspondent
Round shaped cooking stoves introduced to rural communities in several villages in Tabora region have proved efficient enough in terms of wood fuel consumption providing a dramatic relief to villagers and easing the pressure on woodlots and forests.
Rural communities depend on wood as a source of fuel but the rising cost of alternative fuels like kerosene or electricity makes them unaffordable by villagers and thus unsuitable for domestic use.
This has pushed conservationists to design simple but cost effective cooking stoves that every single family in the rural areas can afford.
Total Land Care (TLC), a non-profit making organization based in Tabora has made a breakthrough in terms of energy saving.
Through practical undertakings TLC has taught many rural families in Nzega, Uyui, Urambo and Sikonge districts how to make such stoves.
David Fonga who is a Field Coordinator for TLC and his assistant, Ezra Kigata based at Ichemba village in Urambo district are among those who have facilitated the wide use of the stoves in the district.
They have taught the villagers how to make the stoves so as to spare the remaining scanty forest reserves.
A delegation from Tanzania Cigarette Company (TCC) led by the Corporate Affairs Manager, Paul Makanza, visited the two projects in the village to discover that the residents have embraced the simple technology wholeheartedly.
Selebia Wangale is a middle age woman living at Ichemba village in Uyui district.
She runs a small restaurant where fellow villagers gather at different times of the day to be served with tea, buns, rice, ugali, beans and chicken.
The team found her using a mud stove for all her cooking. She expressed her gratitude to TLC for teaching her how to make the stove and subsequently cutting cost on the time spent looking for firewood.
``Previously I used to spend a lot of time in the bush collecting firewood which was, however, quickly consumed. The traditional type of cooking stove that most of us used consumed a lot of firewood but this new type is different,`` Wangale explained.
Drawing the line of difference made possible through the use of the mud stove, the lady said that she used to buy charcoal as an alternative fuel to firewood but the measure had little impact in cutting the cost of operating the restaurant.
``I used to buy a bag of charcoal for 1,500/- . It lasted hardly for three days. Today I buy a sizable pile of firewood for just about 300/- and it lasts for the whole week. This is wonderful. I have started to realize profit in my small business as the money initially spent on charcoal adds up to my savings,`` she said.
A customer who identified himself as John Ntokezi could not hide his admiration for the mud stove which he said did not only bring relief to rural communities but also greatly reduced the wanton cutting down of trees.
``We eat everyday and firewood or charcoal is the only source of fuel in rural areas. The mud stove has changed the situation as hundreds of thousands of trees can now be spared as just a few pieces of firewood are required to boil beans or any other hard meal,`` Ntokezi explained.
He is convinced that the tradition of cutting down trees for fuel purposes would also fade away as the villagers become more aware about protection, improvement and conservation of the environment.
Explaining how to make the widely acclaimed mud stoves, TLC Project Manager, Rebecca Mwasyoke, says that the size of the stove depends on the family requirement.
However the standard measurements are 90cm by 60cm an equivalent to 3 by 2 feet.
Two openings are made o the top side of the structure - where to place the cooking pots - and an opening at the bottom provides for a place to put the firewood.
``No expensive material is required to make such a stove. Clay soil from an anti-hill mixed with fresh cow dung to increase elasticity is the basic requirement.
Some amount of ash is added to make the floor and inner walls heat resistant,`` she explained, adding that the structure is left to dry up for at least three or four days before being put to use. ``No cement is required,`` Mwasyoke stressed.
Zebedayo Maudi who is a school teacher at Ichemba primary school in Urambo district is among those working closely with TLC in disseminating information to the community on environmental conservation.
He says that formerly a load of firewood would last for just about three days but with the new technology it takes eight days for the same load to be used up by his family.
``At the moment women have a lot of time to deal with other economic activities compared with the previous trend when they were obliged to spend hours to fetch firewood.
The Situation could be worse as the firewood is becoming not easily available making them walk long distances to get it,`` he says.
At Kisanga village in Sikonge district, the wife of the local school head teacher, Jane Kisaline, also appreciated the use of the mud stove in place of the traditional three-stone-open stove that consumes a lot of firewood.
``Formerly we used to buy an oxen cart full of firewood at 5,000/-. The amount would last for about two weeks.
However, after changing over to the mud stove the same amount of firewood lasts for three months. Isn\'t this wonderful?`` she queried.
``I wish the technology is taken to other parts of the country where trees disappear rapidly due to continued charcoal burning. Mud stoves keep the house clean as no smoke comes out while cooking,`` she added.
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