Trip Goals

We are all very excited for the spring 2012 DHE assessment trip to Tanzania! During this trip, our group of three students will assess the feasibility of future DHE projects in Arusha and check up on past projects in the Kigoma region. In the map below, you can find Arusha in the northern area next to Mount Kilimanjaro. Kigoma is located in the far west near Lake Tanganyika.

For the past three years, DHE has developed and distributed improved cook stoves in the Kigoma region. The three-stone stoves commonly used in Tanzania households consist of an open fire and three stones to support a pot. However, such stoves present environmental and health problems. Firewood collection can lead to deforestation in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, preparing meals in rooms with little or no ventilation exposes women and children to dangerous emissions of carbon monoxide and particulate matter and may lead to Acute Respiratory Infection. For these reasons, improved cook stoves that reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions are a cleaner and more efficient alternative to the three stone stove. 


DHE has not yet worked in Arusha, so we while we are there we hope to determine the feasibility of our improved cook stove and briquetting projects in the region. DHE has developed a coffee husk stove that burns coffee husks or other agricultural waste materials rather than wood. The second project, briquetting, is an alternative fuel made of loose plant waste that can be burned in any type of stove. In order for both projects to be successful, there must be plenty of plant waste available, as well as easy access to sheet metal and stove makers. Since Arusha is an agricultural and industrial center, we believe that the region will be well suited for both projects.


The feasibility of our project also depends on a variety of economic and social factors. We will need to ensure that the coffee husk stove or briquettes are an affordable alternative to wood or charcoal for consumers. We will also need to ensure that these products can be produced profitably. Identifying producer and consumer groups will be a substantial part of the spring trip. We hope to work closely with local NGOs to ensure that our project will be socially sustainable year round, even though DHE is only in Tanzania for a few months each year.

After spending five to six weeks in Arusha, we will travel to Kigoma to visit with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). DHE has worked alongside JGI for the past three years to develop and distribute the rocket stove, a high efficiency clay stove. Additionally, we will determine if there are any other projects at JGI for which DHE may provide technical assistance. After spending a week in Kigoma town, we will travel to Kalinzi, a village in the Kigoma region where DHE has distributed the rocket stove, to receive some feedback on the use of the stove.

By the end of the trip, we hope that we will have established connections with NGOs and conducted market analysis in Arusha so that a summer trip may successfully implement briquetting and/or coffee husk stove programs. In Kigoma, we hope to begin a formal evaluation of the rocket stove distribution program and to understand the potential for DHE’s future involvement with JGI in the region.