As well as distributing trees from our nursery network, we also train communities in building Lorena fuel efficient stoves. More than 90% of cooking in Uganda is done using wood, and the traditional way of doing this is with the ‘3 stone fire’. Although popular, this method can bring about many disadvantages. The open fire is a hazard, especially for the young. The smoke from these fires – which are usually enclosed in small rooms – is highly toxic, and according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) can cause significant health problems such as pneumonia in infants, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. Finally, the 3 stone fires are highly inefficient, since most of the heat is lost to the atmosphere, thus requiring greater quantities of wood.

As part of our holistic approach to decreasing the primary deforestation within the Mount Elgon region, and ensuring that there is a sustainable rotation of fuelwood, we build 1,000 Lorena stoves per year through our implementing partners. We also train communities on the construction method, so that these stoves can also be built outside of the programme. The stoves are built using local materials; clay, bricks, sand, and sawdust. This means that they are cost effective, do not rely on imported parts, and can easily be fixed should they fail. The stove has a fuel chamber, 1-3 cooking rings which are bespoke made to fit the user’s cooking pots, and a chimney which draws the heat to the cooking pots and extracts the harmful smoke.

Lorena stoves use up to 70% less wood than the conventional 3-stone fires and can also achieve a suitable cooking temperature from using dried livestock dung, or roots from the banana/matooke plant. If an average household uses five kilograms of fuelwood per day, Lorena stoves can reduce this to 1.5 kilograms. Therefore, for every 1,000 stoves installed