a day of Biochar and LuciaStoves in Rural Togo

On our last day in the Togolese village of Siakado the village elders were asking us about biochar and how to apply it to their corn fields, a lively discussion where they took such ownership of the concept of biochar that they decided it needed a name in their own language and they called it "Siaka". While the lively discussion was going we had a base model version of the LuciaStove on in the communal kitchen where most of the villagers cook. As you can see, the hut's walls are black with years of smokey cooking from the three rock stoves visible on the ground. The main reason the LuciaStove was on, was to show how it produced biochar but while it was going one woman went into the hut to use it to cook her family's supper, and then another, and another; in all three families cooked their meals on the LuciaStove that day on about 300g of fuel. The crowning achievement of the day however had to be when one young mother, with her baby tied to her back, entered the hut and announced that it was the first time she had ever brought her baby into the cooking hut while people were cooking because for the first time the hut was not filled with smoke.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• biochar
• LuciaStove
• WorldStove
• Togo

[astrialkil]

Not to be a jerk, but if this stove improved the cook hut so much why didn't you donate it to the village? This way you know their fuel usage goes down and char gets used. You also could add a wire guard so that children don't fall on it knocking it over and burning them selves.

[WorldStove]

@astrialkil Not a jerky question at all, quite the contrary. As for donating, thanks to our funders, through our pilot programs, we have been donating thousands of LuciaStoves all over the world. More importantly, what we do is not give LuciaStoves but help local communities create their own self sustaining locally owned and run LuciaStove and biomass fuel pellet factories.

[WorldStove]

@astrialkil As for a wire guard, check out the video entitled a Togolese LuciaStove, I think you’ll like what we did. Nice that we’ve been thinking along the same lines, thanks for the great question.

[marthale7]

I am amazed at how it does not smoke.

[WorldStove]

@marthale7 Thanks marthale7, Over the past months even when we had no common language one of the happiest things that happened over and over again when we lit one of the donated LuciaStoves was women would shake their head and pantomime eyes burning to say that finally their eyes did not hurt while cooking. Hard work, but VERY rewarding.

[astrialkil]

@WorldStove Cool! I would like to be first on your list for factories in Colorado when the U.S.A. economy permanently collapses the end of the year.