Efficient Stoves Reduce Deforestation in Eritrea

Two women are building a round structure out of clay bricks in a mud hut. One woman is wearing a red headscarf, while the other is shaping the bricks. A bowl of building materials is in front of them.

Project type: Efficient cook stoves

Project location: Debub and Gash Barka, Eritrea

Project status: Completed, no credits available

Annual emission reduction of the whole project: 2,500 t

The climate protection project in Eritrea supports the villagers in building smokeless, efficient ovens. The reduction of the smoke and greenhouse gases benefits the climate and at the same time promotes the health of women and children.

With the smokeless and low-emission mogogo oven, the health-damaging smoke emissions during cooking are eliminated.

Working together, the women erect the upper part of the mogogo oven with prefabricated tiles.

The efficient mogogo ovens are constructed by the village's women themselves.

Trained instructors assist the women of the village in the construction of the ovens.

Every household in Eritrea has a so-called mogogo oven with which the traditional flatbread (injera) is prepared.

The project in Eritrea is being carried out by the Swiss support committee for Eritrea (Schweizerischen Unterstützungskomitee für Eritrea, SUKE) together with the Eritrean partner organization Vision Eritrea.

Until now, every household in Eritrea has a so-called mogogo oven with which the traditional flatbread (injera) is prepared. However, the ovens do not have a chimney or smoke outlet and consume large quantities of firewood, which is scarce in that region. The new smokeless and energy-saving mogogo oven model was developed and tested by the Eritrean energy ministry. With the new ovens, no more health-damaging smoke accumulates in the house during cooking, which benefits the health of the women and children. Moreover, the new mogogo saves about 50 per cent of firewood. The consumption of firewood, and therefore also the deforestation and the emissions of greenhouse gases, are consequently reduced.

The project also includes other social advantages: The population saves itself the tiresome gathering of firewood and the cooking time is reduced. This way, more time remains for other tasks. Since less money has to be spent for the purchase of the expensive firewood, the project supports the poorest families in Eritrea and thus leads to a social balance. Project implementation was successfully completed by the end of 2011.