Sales are up and markets are expanding for more climate-friendly cookers
KAMPALA, Uganda (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The ancient lorry, overflowing with more than 100 bags of charcoal on the last stage of their journey from tree to ash, creaks and groans towards Kampala, its tailboard bearing the slogan ‘NO PAIN NO GAIN’.
Despite the rising cost of charcoal, Uganda’s capital swallows thousands of such bags every day, mainly to cook food for the city’s rising population.
But around Kampala, efforts to clean up cooking – and simultaneously cut forest loss, reduce health problems and curb climate change – are beginning to change that.
Idah Muwonge, of Mukono town, outside Kampala, has used charcoal to cook for as long as she can recall. But recently she has drastically reduced the amount she uses, thanks to a new fuel-efficient cooking stove she bought locally - a product supported by Impact Carbon, an award-winning non-profit based in San Francisco.
The savings, she said now gives her more money to devote to improving her family’s diet and their general welfare.
“My charcoal bill has been reduced by more than half,” says Muwonge. “My neighbour, who was using firewood to cook, also bought one of these improved stoves and says it has reduced her fuel expenses too.”
Anna Mutiini, the neighbour, says the switch to a charcoal stove has saved her from the discomfort she suffered since childhood from the smoke produced by cooking over firewood.
“The smoke makes you cough all day and gets in the eyes, bringing tears and a running nose,” says Mutiini, a 28-year-old trader. “But with this stove the air is clean and I do not cough anymore.”
AWARD-WINNING INNOVATION
The ceramic-lined stoves, which reduce heat loss and control air flow, cost as little as $5 and can last several years, according to Impact Carbon, which this year won a 2013 Ashden Award for financial innovation.
The award honours non-profit organizations that use carbon finance to support green businesses in developing countries.
Impact Carbon says its aim is to “increase access to clean energy solutions that improve health, protect the environment and reduce poverty globally.” It provides financial and technical support to enterprises in Uganda, and other countries, to help them strengthen their businesses and make the clean cook stoves and other environmentally friendly technology more affordable.
In Uganda, “we are supporting five local manufacturers to produce energy-efficient stoves. They use charcoal efficiently and less carbon is released into the atmosphere, enabling us to earn carbon credits. The carbon credit is used to subsidise the manufacturers,” says John Gwillim, head of the Impact Carbon team in Kampala.
The local firms - Uganda Stove Manufacturers Limited, Sure Energy Saving Stoves for Africa, Energy Uganda Foundation, Friends of the Wealth Environment and Africa Energy Stoves - are receiving support to expand their production and market outreach to all parts of the country.
Impact Carbon began working in Uganda in 2007, when it helped Uganda Stove Manufacturers Limited (Ugastoves) to improve its business practices through better accounting and finance management and proper record keeping.
At one of the Ugastoves marketing outlets at Kawolo town in Buikwe district, the bright orange charcoal stoves, with metallic casing, sell at a retail price of 15,000 shillings ($6) for the small size, 25,000 shillings ($10) for the medium and 30,000 shillings ($12) for the large model.
BARGAINING FOR A STOVE
A customer bargains for a price reduction for the medium-sized stove. After a few minutes’ haggling, buyer and seller are all smiles as the stove goes for 23,000 shillings.
“Buyers will always want to have the price reduced. We usually allow a small discount but enough for us to make a profit. These stoves are really gaining in popularity, mainly because of the savings on the amount of charcoal used. They are also strong and long lasting,” says the salesman, Salongo Paulo.
Gwillim says Impact Carbon has given the stove makers several sorts of support, focused mainly on efficiency improvement in business operations, technical training and subsidizing the cost of raw materials.
“We also helped in developing a fuel-efficient cooking stove prototype and carried out market research to improve sales and distribution chains. In addition we are assisting with procurement of quality raw materials to make the stoves,” Gwillim says.
Abdu Busuulwa, who owns Energy Uganda Foundation, says demand for the stoves is rising steadily. Speaking to Thomson Reuters Foundation at the production plant in Kawempe, a Kampala suburb, he says quality is a priority.
“The workers are fined if they fail to meet the set standards. We have purchased new land nearby where we are going to build a new production plant,” Busuulwa says proudly.
GREATER EFFICIENCY
Before the intervention of Impact Carbon, Busuulwa’s stoves were saving less than 20 percent of the charcoal normally used to cook. By using better materials and improving the design, they now use up to 55 percent less charcoal.
“This saving is on ordinary charcoal. But if one uses briquettes, the saving on the cost of fuel can be even higher. It is a real saving to the ordinary person who cannot afford electricity or gas to cook,” he says.
Busuulwa is reluctant to give current production levels, citing competition issues, but says sales have risen sharply to several thousand now, from a few hundred two years ago.
“Our sales are steadily improving. It is our sales that determine our production and we now have up-country sales promotions that are very promising. More people are getting to know the products outside the city centre,” Busuulwa concludes.
Stove sales by Ugastove, Uganda’s biggest manufacturer, have risen from 200 a month in 2007 to more than 10,000 a month this year as a result of its work with Impact Carbon.
An Impact Carbon monitoring system tracks the stoves sold by each of the companies and shows how many of them are in use. This enables it to work out the amount of carbon saved so that the carbon credit can be calculated.
Officials at Impact Carbon note that the more stoves are used, the fewer trees are destroyed to burn into charcoal, substantially reducing carbon emissions, the less air pollution there is in the home, improving the health of more women and children, and the use of less charcoal leaves more cash for the family.
Patrick Luganda is a Kampala-based journalist, media trainer and consultant who specialises in science and environment issues.
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