Biomass stove designed for villagers in Tanzania

The biomass stove saves trees and prevents pollution.

Photo: Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy

In Tanzania, charcoal stoves can cause lots of trouble. Rapid deforestation has made fueling them costly, both financially and ecologically, and toxic emissions threaten the health of users. So the Kisangani Smith Group (KSG), in the Njombe district of Tanzania’s Iringa Region, has designed an efficient, easily constructed biomass stove instead. The KSG stove is made of sheets of metal lined with clay, so it heats more quickly than its traditional counterparts. It burns sawdust, rice husks and agricultural residues instead of charcoal, cutting down on smoke and reducing waste.

KSG isn’t your typical stove manufacturer. The group was founded in 1996 to help alleviate poverty through technological training. The fuel-efficient stoves are part of an effort to protect the local environment; KSG also supports extensive reforestation initiatives. Recent funding from the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy in the U.K. has helped KSG expand production.

On the shore of Lake Victoria in northern Tanzania, another Ashden Award recipient puts local skills and resources to use. The Mwanza Rural Housing Programme (MRHP) trains villagers to build brick kilns from the area’s plentiful clay. MRHP’s kilns are powered by agricultural waste, typically rice or cotton residues. Whatever bricks don’t end up making kilns make houses. According to an awards spokesperson, MRHP has helped construct some 100,000 homes in 70 villages. That’s quite a record to build on.

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