by Robert Manyara
NAKURU, Kenya, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- For Jane Wairimu, the increasing adoption of energy-saving cookers among rural Kenyan households not only saves money, it earns an income.
Wairimu, a member of Nakuru-based Rocket Stove Builder group, grows maize, potatoes and beans but she has skills that most women in rural Kenya lack: constructing energy-saving stoves and boilers known as rocket stoves/boilers.
Generally, that kind of work would be considered to be a man's task in Kenya's rural communities. But Wairimu, one of the five-women the group is proud of her skills. She travels to various parts of the country to install the stoves and boilers in rural homes adopting fuel-saving cooking techs.
"I enjoy my work. I can go anywhere even Mombasa as long as the order has been made," she told Xinhua. "Constructing the stoves also earns me an extra income."
Wairimu and her peers use bricks, fireproof cement and lime to make the stoves, which boasts up to 90-percent combustion of wood fuel, thus raising efficiency and reducing emission of smoke. For every stove, they make a minimum profit of 20 U.S. dollars.
She said since the ministry of agriculture trained them on constructing the stoves and boilers in 2008, they have been capitalizing on their knowledge, creating an alternative revenue stream for themselves.
So far, more than 1,500 women have been trained on constructing such stoves in Nakuru County, said Jackline Wanjala, Ministry of Agriculture's officer in charge of Home Economics and Energy in Nakuru County.
"We undertake the training in all the sub-counties and this happens every month," Wanjala said.
"We focus on women because from statistics women are the main consumers of the wood fuel and it really affects them. They are the ones you will find in the kitchen cooking using the wood fuel and when they become beneficiaries of the information and skills, they are able to share it with others and change their lives too," she said.
But the impact Wairimu is making goes beyond business. She and others in the group are training other women from her village, weaning them off the primitive yet environmentally-unfriendly burning of wood and charcoal.
"We were trained to train others, to tell them the necessity of using the energy-saving stoves because we are causing climate change when we destroy forests to get firewood," she said.
"It's also good for our health; the heavy smoke from open fire affects our eyes. It affects our breathing," Wairimu added.
Overall 68.3 percent of Kenyan population use firewood and charcoal and in the countryside, the percentage is higher, according to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
High use of transitional fuels is attributed to continued destruction of forests while resulting in an increase of carbon dioxide release, the main gas causing global warming.
BENEFITS SPEAK LOUD
Wairimu was eloquent when it came to the benefits of the device. She said it has saved her the numerous trips of walking long distances to buy firewood.
"You are sure of using only two pieces of firewood to cook three meals a day. That is not possible with open fire," Wairimu explained.
Such stoves are also praised for their low emission of smokes, a major cause of indoor pollution, now considered as a silent killer by the World Health Organization.
"The open fire emits a stingy smoke which leaves your eyes itchy. It's very uncomfortable. It feels good cooking on the stove; there is little smoke" she says.
Wairimu and her colleague's efforts are fitting into the government's development agenda of establishing a sustainable environment.
Promoting use of clean and low-emission energy is among the strategies the Kenyan government pins on to achieve its 2015 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted to United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change ahead of the Paris Climate Change Conference.
The country aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
Last week, the National Assembly approved ratification of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, paving way for implementation of actions and strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climatic changes in the country.
Parties to the agreement have committed to maintain emissions well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a target calling for greater levels of community participation.
This year, the Treasury cut the import tax on energy-saving cooking stoves from 25 percent to 10 percent with aim of reducing their prices and thereby encourages more families to use them.
