Project Detail

Chingwa Stove project - An Introduction of fuel efficient stoves in Chiweshe, Chiduku and Esiphezini for the reduction of green-house gas emmissions.

The Chingwa wood saving stoves project is located in Chiduku,Chiweshe, Esiphezini districts in Mashonaland Central , Manicaland ,and Matebeleland south.The project is an effort to reduce massive deforestration for fuelwood rampant in the areas and a way to emancipate women .This is an environmentally friendly technology as it uses less fuel than open fires thus emitting less greenhouse gases and contributing less to global warming.Since the stoves use less fuel wood ,less trees are cut and deforestration is minimized. Carbon dioxide sinks are maintained.Use of stoves decreases fuelwood collection ,so the women`s time and labour can be gainfully employed elsewhere.

The project goals or objectives are:
-to spread an awareness campaign on environmental issues.
- to promote the installation of the efficient Chingwa Stoves in rural kitchens which will reduce fuelwood use.
- reduce global warming and the high pressures being exerted on natural woodland resources.
-reduce the time women spend searching for fuelwood ,freeing them to engage in more productive tasks.
-to improve the neatness and beauty of the kitchen , thereby strengthening village groups and improving the standard of living for women.
- to create employement for unemployed rural folk.

The activities carried out are :
1.awareness raising on the connection between forests and global warming.
2. organizing training workshops.
3.procument and dessemination of stove kits ,and implementation and evaluation of the project.

The main participants and beneficiaries in this project are women however all groups of people starting from cooperatives , VIDCO and WADCO are to participate inthis project.

The results from the project are ;extensive use of the stove which will in turn bring about forest conservation and create environmental awareness on the connection between forests and global warming.Construction ofstoves in more than 6000 households .The project is expected to have a great impact and as a result can be replicated in some other areas and end up at national level.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Zimbabwe Women's Bureau

Country:

Zimbabwe

Area Of Work:

Climate Change Mitigation

Operational Phase:

Pilot Phase

Grant Amount:

US$ 40,706.67

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 4,656.44

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 31,288.00

Project Number:

ZIM/92/G31/02

Start Date:

1/1994

End Date:

12/1994

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

Nil

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

Project has enabled the local people to participate in a significant manner by having locally trained builders. The communities also contributed in the design of the stove by giving their own suggestions. Some members of the community like the local tinsmiths moulded chimneys from locally available scrap metal which they sold to those who had stoves.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The chingwa stove technology as a fuel saving stove has enabled the use of firewood in a sustainable manner. Efforts were made to indigenise the construction, decoration and increase functions of the stove by involving local participants who gained by generating income through activities like bricklaying, fabrication of chimneys and decoration of the chingwa stoves.

Policy Impact

The group worked with the Department of Energy who have scaled up the programme to national level and efforts are being made to have fuel saving stoves particularly in the rural areas.

Capacity - Building Component

The project involved the construction of stoves in about 6 000 households. The local community was empowered to implement the project on their own by having some of the community members trained in building the chingwa stoves and to be responsible for training the users in the construction of stoves or construct the stoves for the users.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

The project was an initiative to spread an awareness campaign on environmental issues. The extensive us of the stove in 6000 households brought about forest conservation and created awareness ont he linkages between these foress and global warming.

Notable Community Participation

There has been notable community participation as the project has drawn its beneficiaries from Chiweshe, Chiduku and Esiphezini. The community has been involved in afforestation activities and the chingwa stoves project was an effort to consolidate their efforts to reduce deforestation and biodiversity loss. During the review workshops, the communities were given the platform to make their suggestions on making the stove aesthetically Zimbabwe.

Gender Focus

Though all people benefitted in this project, the main beneficiaries were women. Women were involved in building, decorating the stove and kitchen. Women spearheaded the process since the project helped to reduce their burden and time spent on fetching firewood and freed them to engage in other productive tasks.

Project Results

1) AWARENESS RAISING
The Chingwa Stove project managed to raise a lot of awareness particularly in Chiweshe, Esiphezini and Chiduku where it was implemented. This projects were facilitated by Jekesa Pfungwa which is a local NGO who have confessed that due to the increase in awreness on the use of these stoves there has been a high demand for these stoves. The requests for more stoves are now coming from the neighbouring commuities. In addition, due to the increase in awareness there has been some behavioural change in that the women are no longer using the open fire but have resorted to using the stoves.

Due to the successes scored by this project, the project has been replicated in other projects that include Bangira in Mhondoro and Insiza.

2) ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
As a result of using the fuel saving stoves, the women testified that there has been a reduction in the rate of firewood consumption. The bundle that used to last for 5 days now takes 11 days. This has helped in saving their woodlots. In addition, the fuel saving stoves emit less smoke and this has helped to reduce the carbon emmissions that result in global warming.

3) SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS
The use of the stoves has helped to create a clean environment since they emit less smoke and this creates an environmentally friendly atmosphere for the women to work in. In addition, the fact that the frequency of collecting firewood is reduced this means the women have more time for other chores like their gardening activities to improve their livelihoods.

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