Wild Gift Final Report

8/3/2019 Wild Gift Final Report

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A partnership between Linus Ita, Monica Samec, and the Mfaminyen,Mbeban, Ojok, Old Ndebiji, Nkame, and Ekang communities


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Wild Gift Leadership NetworkPO Box 3064 Sun Valley, ID 83353, USA http://wildgift.org [email protected]

Mfaminyen Conservation SocietyPO Box 2839 Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria http://mfaminyen.org [email protected]

The issue

he stove is very, very important tome before when I cooked, I

would get sick. But with this one, I dont

have such problems... Many people came andbegged me to teach them how to do it,especially the Cameroonians! Since we are onthe border, many Cameroonians people cameand I taught them. I taught some how tomake three fireplaces; I taught some how tomake two fireplaces. So I just thank God.

~ Ojong Cecilia

Cecilia was born in Cameroon but settled in Ekang, a Nigerian rainforest community, with her

husband and four children. She rises at 4 a.m. every day. After praying, she starts a fire in a small

dark hut to cook her family breakfast. As with every other woman in her village, Cecilia used thethree stone cooking method, meaning a fire is built in the middle of three stones and a pot is

placed on top of them. She dedicated hours to this every day, and still more hours carrying large

bundles of wood on her head to use for the next days meals.

The majority of Nigerias 140+ million people use wood for cooking. The traditional three stone

method that most use results in unnecessary burdens for them, such as hauling large amounts of

wood, enduring unhealthy amounts of smoke and heat, spending a long time waiting for the food to

cook, and scrubbing off the soot deposited by the fire from their pots and kitchens.

Improved cook stoves can address these problems, and provide an opportunity for the communities

involved to take full part in developing and implementing solutions. Such simple, locally made

technologies can decrease the amount of firewood people like Cecilia collect, lessen their exposureto soot and particulate matter, give a faster method of cooking, and reduce the time and money

spent on charred pots. It is also an opportunity for them to become leaders in their community,

teaching others a skill that they can benefit from while promoting forest conservation.

Image Credit: World Health Organization


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Women of Mfaminyen giving suggestions on

the Ekwuk stove design

The Project

The Mfaminyen Conservation Society (MCS) identified the need to create a practical, sustainable

cooking option for the millions of Nigerian women like Cecilia. The importance of this need, across

Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, is reflected in both the number of people killed from indoor smoke

from solid fuels and the alarming rates of deforestation, particularly in places of the rich biodiversitysuch as the area where the Mfaminyen Conservation Society works.

The idea was first conceived with some of the women of Mfaminyen and from the desire to build on

previous Mfaminyen conservation efforts. Consequently, Wild Gift recipient Monica Samec and MCS

coordinator Linus Ita partnered to develop a program that would design and disseminate a cook

stove appropriate for use in the Cross River State rainforest communities. The mission of this pilot

project was to reduce the rural woman's energy burden and the impact of deforestation and climate

change by identifying and promoting fuel efficient cook stove technology.

The design, development, training and promotion of

the stove were participant driven. By reviewing

previous improved cook stove designs and developing

his own from materials locally available in the

community, Linus Ita, an Mfaminyen indigene,

developed the design and named it the Ekwuk stove

(meaning fireplace in the local language). The design

was then discussed and tested among the women in

the Mfaminyen community, and their suggestions and

experience framed how the designs of the workshops

and training manuals were finalized.

Ekwuk stove construction workshops were offered to

all communities in the Achan clan whose communityleaders filed a request. The five communities that responded before the deadline were Mbeban,

Ojok, Old Ndebiji, Nkame,and Ekang. In February, one-day practical workshops on how to build the

stove were held in each of these communities in the language the group preferred. Two other

communities outside the Achang clan requested workshops, Ajassor and Etomi in the Etung Local

Government Area. After reviewing the initial evaluation results, Wild Gift agreed to support these

training workshops as well and they were held in August.

Selected illustrations from The Ekwuk Stove Construction Manual

Full publication available at http://mfaminyen.org

In order to cultivate leadership amongst participants, those who demonstrated motivation and skill

in building the Ekwuk stove were invited to a Training of Trainers 3-day workshop and a few also

employed as resource people for other workshops. A rough training video showing how to construct

an Ekwuk stove was also shot and produced into a video CD (VCD) for general outreach.


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The Impact

Five months after the workshops, over one hundred women and men who built and used the stoves

were interviewed. Their feedback prompted a second edition of the training manual to be published.

As well, VCDs of these interviews were made and distributed throughout the rainforest communities

to increase the stature of both the stove and the people who use it. The interviews werecomplemented by a quantitative survey which found that the average Ekwuk stove saved at least

2610 lbs or 14 cubic meters of fire wood per year. A monitoring visit to all eight communities 14

months after the initial workshops estimated over 4500 Ekwuk stoves had been built. Roughly

speaking, these stoves have the potential to reduce firewood usage and CO2 emissions by over

10,000 tons/year. However, the impact is perhaps best described by the stove users themselves:

Note: Stove users spoke in the language they preferred, which was translated into English by an independent translator.

The Ekwustove which does not wastefirewood, which makes me happy. Withlittle firewood, I cook my food, the stove

concentrates the heat, controls smoke, anddoes not dirty the pot... I told my friends

the stove is good for my health I advisethem to stop the use of the other one and

adopt this one.

- Eunince Ita Mbon

See my old stove; I used to blow the firewhich caused me eye pains. The other wastesmuch firewood, but with the Ekwuk stove Iuse only a number of pieces. The smoke isdirected away from me The stove is so good,no smoke to the eyes. No heat to the body. Solet every home have one!

- Ojong Thomas Egbe

I dont use much firewood, unlike the oldstove. I cook faster. The handles of the potdo not get burnt. Unlike the old stove, the

smoke does not spread over my body A lotof my friends, even in neighbouring

communities, were amazed at this stove. Sothey asked me to construct for them and I

did I told them the Ekwuk stove is abetter type of stove.

-Rose John Etta


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The futureDue to the demonstrated success of the project, the Cross River State government has allocated

approximately $100,000 of their annual budget for improved cook stoves and asked Linus Ita to

write the concept note for implementation. Linus also continues to advocate for improved cook

stoves as one of the founding members of a new West African improved cook stove network.

Training manuals, VCDs and workshops continue to be made available through the Mfaminyen

Conservation Society and their new website: http://mfaminyen.org.

AcknowledgmentsWe gratefully acknowledge the support and guidance of Wild Gift, whose flexibility and

understanding allowed the project to be executed far more effectively than most donor projects,

and more importantly, established a solid foundation on which to build both the program and the

organization. We would like to thank the leaders of the Mfaminyen, Mbeban, Ojok, Old Ndebiji,Nkame, and Ekang communities for their support of this project. Editi Effiong volunteered his time

and talents in website design to give Mfaminyen a voice on the internet. Finally, much appreciation

and respect goes to all the Ekwuk stove users and promoters who no doubt will continue to improve

the design and reach of the program, and will continue to be the reason for the projects success.

I have told my friends this stove isextremely good. I was the first to have this

stove, but now about eight other people

have built theirs. At first people were notinterested, but now, everyone is craving

one. The reason is they can see the benefitsof the stove. In fact, every woman in the

community is excited!- Caroline Ndifon

The stove is so good. If you dont have thepower to break a log, you can just usesticks.

- Evelyn Ita

Linus M. ItaCoordinator

Mfaminyen

Conservation Society

Monica SamecMember

Wild Gift

Leadership Network

Wild Gift Final Report

Documents

Transcript of Wild Gift Final Report