CO2balance and project partner Vita, an Irish NGO, are in the fourth year of conducting monitoring for two cookstove projects in northern Eritrea. The region in which the stoves are based is the Anseba region, named after the Anseba river which passes through the region. Majority of the region is at high altitude with varying… Read the full article >
Eritreans have a new name for Cookstoves: the ‘Saviour Stove’
Desey is a 47-year-old grandmother who lives out in the Eritrean desert, south of the capital city Asmara. It is a forbidding landscape of rock and mountain, which has been almost completely deforested. Desey and her family were forced to buy firewood everyday, simply to cook and feed herself and her family, spending a lot… Read the full article >
Ethiopia Improved Cookstove Project: Stories from the Field
Meet Mahlet Gebrie . Mahlet (28) lives with her husband and three young children (aged 3-9) in Birbir town in Mirab Abaya woredas. She is amongst the many unemployed high school graduates in the area. The only income earned is by her husband from hard daily labor, roughly 30 ETB/day (approx. 82p), which is insufficient… Read the full article >
VCS Issuance Kenya Cookstoves 2018!
This year, CO2balance have successfully issued over 30,000 VERs under VCS (now Verra). This applies to efficient cookstove projects in Kenya located in the constituencies of Mathira, Eldoret East, and Keiyo district. The issuance comes 7 years after the initial distribution of cookstoves in these areas. Among the stoves that were distributed was the Carbon… Read the full article >
The Importance of Clean Cookstoves in delivering the SDGs
It’s easy to forget, while moaning about what to cook tonight, that the daily routine of simply turning a few dials on the oven, putting on the TV, and waiting for dinner to be ready, isn’t one that most people in the world can enjoy. In fact, for over 38% of the world’s population everyday… Read the full article >
Final Kenya Cookstove Verification and CSR Project Visit
In April I travelled to Kenya to visit three cookstove projects that we have in the counties of Meru, Mathira and Eldoret with the CarbonZero Kenya team. In addition, I also went to see two CSR projects that co2balance are implementing for a client in the Aberdare’s county which will involve the restoration of community… Read the full article >
Impacting Lives in Maungu
In the Coastal region of Kenya in Shimba hills Carbon zero has distributed over 10,000 energy efficient cook stoves. The stove beneficiaries highly appreciate the many social, health and economic impact that the stoves have had in their lives. The stoves have also led to the protection of the Shimba hills forest that was under… Read the full article >
Sadly Women are Primary Woodfuel Collectors
Cooking is a very simple art but with far reaching effects to millions of people under the sun. It is estimated that globally more than three billion people currently rely on solid fuels. Most of this wood is collected from forests. Worst of all is that in Africa, burden of wood fuel collection still lies… Read the full article >
Transforming Rural Livelihoods
The Carbon Zero Kenya Aberdares ICS project started in the year 2011, with 10,200 stoves being distributed. Since then company invested in community awaress creation that so locals embrace the use the ICS thus moving from using 3-stone stoves (traditional stoves) to carbon zero improved cook stoves. Speaking to various stove beneficiaries the Carbon Zero… Read the full article >
Giving Power to Rural Women
With the support of Australian High Commission in Kenya in the 2015 Carbon Zero Kenya partnered with a women group (Umeme women group) in Western Kenya in Kisumu West to produce 900 cook stoves and sell them within the community. The women were empowered with skills in stove production and marketing. The aim of the… Read the full article >
It’s from the Kitchen that Good Health Starts
A huge population across the world especially in the developing world depends on traditional three stone fires for cooking. This primitive form of cooking negatively impacts the health of people using the stove and the well being of the natural environment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cooking over traditional open fires can cause… Read the full article >
Sustainable Communities in Eritrea
Both the cook stove and water projects continue to move forward in Eritrea as last month we initiated our stakeholder consultation for a new community safe water programme in Zoba Anseba. The meeting, held in the local hall, was well attended by representatives from all the surrounding villages and the feedback received truly showed that… Read the full article >
Protecting Forests is Vital; without them, Kenya would be little more than a desert
Forests influence climate, landform and soil composition and they exist in a wide variety. Each forest type has its own uniqueness and together these forests complement one another and perform the various socio-economic, ecological, environmental, cultural and spiritual functions. Forests remain vital sources livelihood and water to many people across the globe. East Africa’s forests… Read the full article >
Counting the Cost
Human life requires cooking, which means having access to fuel. Most families across the globe especially in developing nations depend on traditional stoves for cooking. These stoves emit a huge amount of smoke that affects the families. For anyone who relies on an open fire to cook daily meals, the need for fuel rivals that for… Read the full article >
Forests Matter
Gathering from studies done by FAO, Forest Resource Assessment 1990, Kenya is classified among the countries with low forest cover of less than 2% of the total land area. Forests are a vital resource supporting the livelihoods of rural communities in Kenya. In spite of this significant role, human activities have put increased pressure on… Read the full article >