Karonga is one of the districts in Malawi which is prone to floods, earthquakes and strong winds. After a thorough research conducted by Mzuzu university urban ark research project in Karonga district, floods occur due to careless cutting down of trees by indigenous people for fish drying as Karonga is a lakeshore district, charcoal burning as many rely on it for income and cooking as many have no access to electricity or have no alternative to the use of firewood energy. These reasons encourage people to embark on cutting down of trees without necessarily being conscious of the impact
Many households use three stone stoves for cooking and drying of fish since access to electricity is not there. Use of Smart Cook stoves will at any cost reduce use of firewood, emission of gas (smoke) and the impact that fire has on women who always cook for the family. The Smart Cook stove is efficient and effective.
The project aims at persuading people to reduce the use of firewood which will automatically reduce the rate at which people cut down trees. Not only that but also reducing the rate at which gases are emitted into the atmosphere as less use of firewood entails less gas emission. The smoke depletes the ozone layer. In specific, the project will help to increase awareness and participation of the community on climate change issues. The project will also enhance coordination of stakeholders as far as climate change management is concerned. Again, the project shall help to sensitize the community on the impact of climate change due to selling of locally available trees. Reduction in gas emission helps in reduction of air pollution which is one of the tasks under environment management.

Plan to ensure community participation:
The project will make a deliberate effort to target women, Youth and needy households with innovations so that they move from level dependency to that of self reliance with the aim of scaling down poverty , this will be achieved through participation of local people in needs identification, planning, management and evaluation of programs. The project will incorporate local views and indigenous knowledge in order to achieve its goals