The Renewable Directorate of the Ministry of Energy disclosed that it is actively pursuing measures to distribute 500,000 efficient biomass cookstoves to more than 350,000 households by 2024.
This was disclosed by the Senior Programmes Officer of the Directorate, Ms. Doris Duodu, during a tour of the Rekoff Company at Joma Ablekuma in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region, which has been contracted by the Ministry to manufacture the cookstoves.
According to Ms. Duodu, the Improved Cookstoves Distribution Project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Energy and the Climate Change Centre (CCC) of South Korea and entails the production and distribution of 500,000 stoves between 2019 and 2024 at a total cost of $5,500,000. She stated, "The project targets low-income households in urban and peri-urban areas across the nation."
According to Mr. Francis Kugblenu, a senior official of Rekoff Co Ltd, who led the team on a tour of the facility to observe and explain the manufacturing process, the company produces approximately 500 cookstoves per day with a workforce of 100, the majority of whom are women. He added that the company's activities have contributed to the creation of numerous jobs in the catchment area, thereby stimulating the local economy.
Mr. Kugblenu explained that sand is typically obtained from either the Volta Region or the Central Region in the form of a stove-shaped mold. The mold is then set with the aid of mortar in a cookstove made of metal sheets that have been hammered into the shape of a traditional coal pot. Ms. Duodu explained that the Ministry utilizes a number of other production outlets to manufacture cookstoves, and that each of these cookstoves is assigned a serial number as part of the accountability process.
Ms. Duou also disclosed that under the 5-year project (2019 to 2024), 413,792 improved cookstoves have been produced, 374,130 have been distributed, and 3,002 have been stolen or damaged.
In order to determine the benefits of the improved cookstoves, the team visited local households where some individuals, particularly women, have benefited from them. The consensus among those interviewed was that these cookstoves had brought them immense benefits, as they no longer had to deal with harmful smoke emissions, and that financially, the cookstoves had allowed them to save a substantial amount of money, as they now use significantly less charcoal for the same amount of fuel.
Ms. Duodu is optimistic that the Ministry will be able to meet its goals and increase awareness of the numerous environmental and other advantages of improved cookstoves.
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