Improved Cook Stoves

Fuelwood comprises the main source of energy for a vast majority of people in Western Africa. Specifically for the women of my community, one of their main daily tasks- cooking- takes a lot of time, effort and wood. It is the women's job to travel en brusse to chop and collect the firewood. Everyday, I see women carrying bundles of wood stacked on their head and donkey carts full of firewood trekking through thte village. However, the current practice of harvesting and collecting this resource is not only exhausting but also wholly unsustainable and is contributing to deforestation of the local area.

This is the typical Malian three stone cooking method.

To prevail over the Three Stone Fire, the Improved Cooking Stove aims to save cooking time by increasing efficiency and to reduce the volume of smoke emission. To improve on the three stone fire requires an insulated combustion chamber. By forcing the heat to scrape against the sides of the cooking pot will improve the heat transfer and help reduce the amount of firewood needed.

Before and After!

This is my friend Jamie and an finished improved stove

A great variety of modifications can be implemented to improve the effectiveness of a stove; ranging from additives to the mud to the physical proportions of the stove itself. The biggest difficulty I have had is convincing the women to agree to the one door model. They are not pursuaded of the effectiveness and prefer to be able to control the heat of the two pots. Therefore, I have adapted the model to allow for two doors while still preserving and improving the efficiency.

This is an example of the adapted method

The women are really excited about the stoves. I even have a waiting list!