NEWS:

16 Mar, 2016


A beneficiary receives ethanol stove from Mr. Mhango (C)and Dr Mweta (R) during the handover ceremony.
In Malawi, access to electricity is very low and confined to urban areas. Consequently woody biomass fuels (primarily firewood and charcoal) provide 90% of domestic energy requirements. Although deforestation and land degradation is a well-known and a highly publicized issue in Malawi, charcoal and firewood consumption is still on the rise.

Wood is the main fuel in Malawi, and 95% of homes still use wood or charcoal for cooking. Nearly everybody uses three-stone fires for cooking. In many areas, wood is now becoming very scarce. Although the government has a number of laws to restrict the sale of wood and charcoal without a license, the practice is very common throughout the country.

The use of charcoal for cooking is more common in the major towns, but charcoal production and the sale of charcoal is illegal. However, despite this, the people in rural areas produce many bags of charcoal which are transported to the towns. This fuel is incredibly wasteful as it uses a considerable number of trees to produce one bag of charcoal.

Mr. Robert Mkandawire, a Researcher from the Malawi University Science and Technology, is the principle investigator working on a project "Techno-economic Feasibility of Decentralized Production of Bio-ethanol using Wastes from Cassava Processing in Nkhotakota", an innovative and sustainable research that adopts available knowledge to produce bio-ethanol using cassava wastes which would otherwise be disposed off in a manner that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
The project is coordinated and financed by LUANAR's Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change (CABMACC) programme.

As part of the project, Clean Cook Ethanol Stoves have been introduced to the communities taking part in cassava processing. The stoves are powered by the ethanol which can be extracted from cassava or any other related raw material e.g sugarcane. It is envisaged that ethanol produced from cassava waste will be used to power the introduced stoves.

According to Mr. Mkandawire, there is currently no direct usage of ethanol from cassava waste by the commercial ethanol consumers. Hence the linkage with Ethco (Dwangwa based ethanol producer) to supply the ethanol during the research period.
He said that his team learnt about the use of ethanol as a domestic cooking fuel from other countries like Kenya, Haiti and Ethiopia where the initiative has been successfully implemented. Hence the need to try the same in Nkhotakota with the hope that the same success may be achieved in Malawi.

Before the stoves where handed over to the 36 selected households, the women and men were trained on how to use the stoves. They tested the stoves by cooking a variety of dishes including nsima, rice, chicken and goat meat, beans and vegetables. The trials took place in three villages, Mwadzama, Mapulanga and Mkazimasika.

One of the stove beneficiaries Agness Mkhango commended the stove as being very efficient, she claimed that they were able to cook multiple dishes with just 1 litter of ethanol under a short amount of time, adding to Mkhango's testimony, a vibrant Mrs. Tionge Banda said the ethanol stoves were smoke free and clean as compiled to using charcoal and fuelwood, "the smoke and ashes that are produced from the wood dirt us and we stink from the smoke, however, now ,we will enjoy cooking said Banda.

The fumes from the million tons of firewood consumed each year produce health hazards, Women and small children being the most vulnerable. Clean burning ethanol cook stoves can help solve these problems. Said Mkandawire.

The stoves can be used indoors as long as it is well ventilated, it produces less than 10 percent of the total carbon dioxide and methane produced from charcoal, the stove can hold a maximum of 1 litter of ethanol which can be used in cook for up to 6 hours.

During the handover ceremony of the ethanol stoves, Mr. Chisale, who is the chairperson of the Nkhotakota Cassave Processors Association,said that the initiative came at a right time and was necessary to the lives of ordinary Malawian as they saw the dangers of careless cutting down of trees.Which he said was partly because they had no other options, hence they continued to cut down the tress for cooking and other needs. "Despite the fact that government and other stakeholder are against deforestation, it has not provided us with the alternative solutions. However, now that we have these stoves, there is now a great need to reduce the cutting down of trees within our surroundings”.

Mr. Chisale further urged Ethco to consider reducing ethanol price to ensure that everyone can afford the ethanol so as to deter people from going back to using wood and charcoal.

The current ethanol price is equated to the price of petrol but discussions are underway to equate the price with that of paraffin.

Mr. Derick Zamayere, Ethco's Operations Manager said his company is committed to environmental conservation hence the link with this project. He further stipulated the importance of the linkage saying Ethco's production of ethanol is low as compared to its demand. "As the project progresses,the association will supplement our ethanol which will help meet the demand of ethanol on the market" said Zamayele

The Director of Planning for Nkhotakota, Mr. Mhango, who represented the Nkhotakota's District Commotional at the ceremony, praised Mr. Mkandawire and CABMACC for the work being done in Nkhotakota, he further highlighted the importance of the stoves saying, the technology will help save forests .He argued the families recieving the stoves to be cooperative and provide all necessary information they will generate during the trial period to enhance the effectiveness of the research.

CABMACC's representative, Mr. Emanuel Zenengeya assured the continued support of such initiatives. He said CABMACC was pleased with the direction that project had taken and look forward to the attainment of the agreed objectives and milestones. He urged the benefiting families to assist in data collection so that the aims of the research project and achieved and later disseminate to more stakeholder for possible adoption and further usage. “This will not only benefit the people of Nkhotakota but also the country at large.” Said Mr. Zenengeya.

Dr Mweta,Malawi University of Science and Technology's Executive Dean, expressed his gratitude towards LUANAR and CABMACC for considering funding the project. “The battle against climate change cannot be achieved individually but rather through coordinal partnerships like this one”, Said Dr. Mweta.

Once the trials are over in Nkhotakota, Mr. Mkandawire plans to purchase more stoves once he attains appropriate funding. The plans are to demonstrate to other areas in both rural and urban. However, their future plans are to have the stoves manufactured and supplied locally.


Written by Christie Kang'ombe