Matiazo

On Saturday, May 26^th, we took a short piki piki (motorcycle) ride from Kalinzi to Matiazo. This village five miles from Kalinzi has a population of 15,000 people. First, we visited an orphanage to get feedback on the coffee husk stove left there by last summer’s trip.  Afterwards we visited a coffee mill to learn how the husks are utilized and obtain estimates on output per day.

When we arrived at Bethel Children’s Home, we were greeted by one of the technicians, Anania. Although Anania no longer uses the coffee husk stove given to him by DHE students, it inspired him to construct his own. Some disadvantages of DHE’s stove are that it smokes considerably when it is first lit, requires frequent tending, and continues to smoke when a second batch of fuel is added. Anania noted that the stove burns very hot and fast, so it can only be used to cook small fish and eggs. Moreover, the sheet metal used to construct the stove is not very durable.

Over the past year, Anania has built four coffee husk stoves which better suit the needs of the orphanage. The two smaller stoves for household-size pots were built one year ago, while the other two stoves for very large pots were built three months ago. All the stoves were built using two millimeter sheet metal from Kigoma. One piece of sheet metal costs 90,000 TSH and can be used to construct three large stoves or eight small stoves. Anania introduced us to one of the other technicians, John, who welds the stove components. Amazingly, these four stoves meet all of the orphanage's food preparation needs. The orphanage obtains husks for free from the nearby coffee mill and stores extra husks so that they may continue to use this fuel source  when coffee is not in season.

In contrast with the two cannisters of DHE's coffee husk stove design, Anania’s stove has a single cannister. One hole on top of the cannister serves as a chimney for cooking food, and the other hole on the side is used for feeding a piece of wood into the stove to start the fire. To fill the stove with fuel, one stick is placed in the top hole and another in the side hold and coffee husks are tightly packed around both sticks. Then both sticks are removed and a stick with a flame is placed in the side hole to light the husks. The stove burns for about an hour. Anania has shared his stove design with other villagers in Matiazo who have begun to use the stove in their own homes.

One disadvantage of Anania's stove is that it produces a very hot flame at the back of the stove opposite of the side where the lit stick is added. Consequently, a hole has formed on the back side of the two smaller stoves and Anania has welded a second layer of sheet metal to this vulnerable area. The flame produced by the stove is also too hot for the orphanage’s pots, so they have had to purchase stronger pots. Additionally, coffee husks spill out the side hole when the sticks are removed after packing the stove with husks. Lastly, we noticed that Annania's stove produces a lot of smoke.

Moving forward, DHE can learn from Anania’s feedback and stove design. The orphanage has taken great strides to reduce its consumption of firewood and diesel. It uses a German made coffee husk water heater, solar water heaters, solar panels, and a small wind turbine. Anania encourages future travelers to continue to visit the orphanage to exchange knowledge about these technologies.

Next, we visited Kanyovu Coffee Curing Co-op Joint Enterprise to learn more about the coffee milling process. Ten large coffee producing groups are part of this cooperative which spans three villages. Five groups in the cooperative own machines to process the coffee and five groups help collect the coffee. In the past, coffee growers in the area would send the whole coffee bean to Moshi for processing. Now, the different groups have various machines to process the coffee which boosts the local economy and saves shipping costs. We saw two machines, one which removes the husk from the bean and one which dries and sorts the beans. The beans are then sent to Moshi to be roasted, packaged, and shipped.

The machine which removes the husk from the bean can process 14 tons of coffee per day and  produces a considerable amount of coffee husk waste. These large coffee husks are collected in a pit. The machine which dries and sorts the beans removes a finer coffee husk. The husks are given away to farmers for use as fertilizer and to coffee husk stove users, such as the orphanage. Although workers at the mill could not give specific numbers on the amout of husk produced per day, they suggested that there is plenty of free and available husk to fuel coffee husk stoves in each household throughout Matiazo.

After we finished our tour of the coffee mill, the manager showed us a few bags of the final product. The beans from Kanyovu are roasted by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters of Vermont which supports conservation programs at the Jane Goodall Institute. We found it particularly exciting to see DHE's major sponsor and NGO partner on the roasted bag of coffee!

Visiting Kalinzi

For the past five days, we stayed in JGI's field station in Kalinzi. This village with a population of about 15,000 is a one hour car ride north of Kigoma. Although the field station has no electricity or running water, it offers stunning views of the Tanzanian countryside, sunsets, and night sky. Misha was particularly happy to wake up to the sound of roosters and the smell of fresh chapatti each morning. With the help of our amazing translator, Changuvu, we managed to have a very productive few days learning about rocket stove distribution. We met with village leaders, members of the rocket stove cooperative, and other interested members of the community.

We received a warm welcome from the village leaders when we first arrived. They discussed with us the advantages and disadvantages of using a rocket stove along with suggestions of how to increase distribution. They said that the best attributes of the stove are that the stove uses less firewood and that it cooks faster. They said some of the disadvantages were that it breaks easily and very few people know how to build the stove. Because of this, village leaders suggested a demonstration where people can learn about the benefits of using a rocket stove compare to a three stone stove and how to build a rocket stove.

After meeting with the village leaders, we met with five members of the rocket stove cooperative. These members agreed with many of the same benefits as the village leaders including that the stove cooks faster, uses less firewood, and smokes less. They also had some feedback on the disadvantages of using the rocket stove such as it breaks easily. The cooperative members had many suggestions on how to improve distribution as well. One of the key suggestions that many of them mentioned was the need for financial support from JGI or DHE for building the stoves. They said that some villagers are unwilling to pay for the rocket stove because the alternative is free or because they believe that the builders have been already compensated by JGI or DHE. Although they still remembered how to build the stove, each member had only built one or two for their families. Still, they were very excited about the rocket stove but wanted more support so that they could begin distributing more widely.

One member of the village, however, had been building many stoves. Pascal, a high school student, has built over 30 stoves in Kalinzi and surrounding areas. We spoke with him and he repeated many of the same concerns as the women in the cooperative. He also had some technical feedback including the importance of teaching people how to create the proper clay mixture and making double burner stoves. Pascal agreed to do a demonstration for the villagers to show them how to build a rocket stove as the village leaders had suggested. So, on Sunday afternoon, Pascal and Changuvu helped us give a demonstration to 25 villagers. Changuvu spoke to them about the benefits of using a rocket stove as compared to a three stone stove. Pascal then showed the villagers how to build the bricks and how to arrange the bricks and cement them together to make a stove. The villagers were very receptive to the demonstration and many were able to correctly point to where each brick should go. Pascal arranged for a second demonstration the following week to solidify the teaching.

Just as we were about to leave Kalinzi, Revocatus stopped by the JGI Field Station. Revocatus helped DHE students to install a wind anemometer on Kibali Hill last year. Since the equipment was no longer functioning, he invited us to the site of the wind tower and requested that we collect the equipment. We went on a beautiful hike the next morning, picked up the anemometer, and arranged for the tower to be taken down. We thanked Revocatus for his hard work in taking care of the anemometer and told him we were sorry that we wouldn’t be able to continue the wind project with him in Kalinzi. Once we got back to Kigoma, we shipped the anemometer back to Thayer. We were glad we were be able to tie up loose ends in Kalinzi and we feel fortunate to have had such a wonderful visit to this beautiful village.

First Few Days in Kigoma

After 28 hours on a bus, we were super excited to reach Kigoma. We traveled to Kigoma to review the progress of the rocket stove, an improved cook stove which uses less wood and burns more cleanly, developed and distributed during the past two years with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). Preliminary conversations with JGI officials suggested strong progress in the distribution of the stove. Staff members also described some challenges that needed to be addressed to further the distribution of the stove.

Grace, the staff member at JGI who has worked most closely with DHE in the past was away on leave, so we began to arrange conversations with other JGI workers. First, we spoke to Mr. Kashula who has been working with Grace on similar projects at JGI. He said the rocket stove has been distributed to many villages and was spreading well. Mr. Kashula was very excited about the project’s environmental and health benefits. He then introduced members to Sood Ndimuligo, who could further help DHE members answer some questions.

Sood was very well informed of the project and also confirmed that it was doing well. He then listed out a number of people we could talk to in order answer other questions. He suggested we speak to Mr. Mtiti, who would be coming back from Dar es Salaam the next day, to learn more about the distribution and challenges of the stove. He then said we should try to speak to Fish, a field worker currently working with a grad student who has worked with DHE members in the past on rocket stoves and briquetting. Fish has also done follow up monitoring on the rocket stove with Grace and other JGI workers. DHE members in the summer of 2011 left a briquette press with Fish, so we hope to be able to speak with him to see what progress Fish has made on the project. Sood also said that he will be in touch when Grace returns in one week from her leave to arrange a meeting. He said she will be best suited to arrange a meeting with Joram, who has a biogas digester that we would be interested to learn more about. He also said that there would be a worker who has worked closely with the JGI officer in Arusha who may be able to give more information on collaboration between DHE and JGI in Arusha. Sood concluded the discussion promising a meeting with Mr. Mtiti the following afternoon.

We met with Mr. Mtiti the next afternoon. Mr. Mtiti had much feedback about the rocket stove. He said that JGI has in total facilitated the construction of over 10,000 stoves, up from 6,800 last year. This number, he further explained, did not even account for stoves built a degree removed from JGI by community members who had learned from JGI. Mr. Mtiti acknowledged that JGI is continuing to mainstream an evaluation method which has been preliminarily developed. He said that there was no monitoring system in the beginning. Now that there is a need for monitoring, JGI has developed a monitoring method. He arranged a meeting for the following day with Elikana, one of the evaluation officers, who had some initial findings to share.

Mr. Mtiti then continued the conversation with some challenges to the stove. First, he brought up the issue of repairing the stoves. Villagers, he said, are not adequately able to fix their own stoves. The villagers are also not fond of having to pay a necessary service fee to have their stove repaired by knowledgeable community members. He said that the metal piece also needs a life span evaluation which is under development. Another factor related to repairs he mentioned was that in order to use the stove size given for larger families, some cooks would fill the pot up more so that the water spilled at times. The spilling, he said, would lead to cracking in the stove. The inefficiency of the stove for large family sizes was the root challenge he said. He stressed that the stove only worked at its peak for certain family sizes.

Overall though, Mr. Mtiti was very pleased with the stove and wanted to make sure the challenges would be addressed so that the distribution of the stove could be vastly expanded. Mr. Mtiti said that the region JGI is currently working with has roughly 45,000 households, 10,000 of which have the improved stove. His goals is for 50,000-60,000 households to eventually be using the rocket stove, the additional households would be from other villagers not in their region who would learn of the stove second hand.

We met with Elikana the following day. Elikana has been working with a team of workers at JGI including Grace and Fish to evaluate the distribution of the rocket stove. Elikana had a lot of feedback from users on the stove. He described a questionnaire study of 211 households across the villages JGI has been working with. He said that there has been a greater acceptance of the stove in the northern regions where wood is more scarce as opposed to the southern areas where wood is still plentiful.

Elikana gave a number of challenges to the rocket stove as well. He said that the stove is not well suited for making ugali, which requires aggressive stirring. He also repeated what Mr. Mtiti said about how the stove is not as well suited to large families. The pot cooks more quickly in the middle compared to the outside, he said, so either it has to be stirred more frequently or it does not cook well. One reason villagers prefer the three stone stove is that the fire is ready to go right away whereas the rocket stove needs a few minutes to heat up. Another large issue villagers have been experiencing is that the stove releases smoke into their homes. The stove works well if in a well ventilated area. Unfortunately, many village house styles are not well ventilated and the lack of a chimney causes the smoke to be inhaled. An additional challenge Elikana mentioned was that the stove is large and once made, it cannot be moved. Three stone users find this to be a benefit of their stove type. That the stove cannot be moved has additional issues for users as well. If built outside, the stove cannot be used well during the rainy season. Stuck outside, the stove can be ruined by the weather and free grazing animals if it is outside. The stove also cannot be built in the rainy season.

Elikana then described the stove repair process in place. He stated that there are people in place who know how to repair the stoves. These people however, require payment for their services. When they provide the service though, they show other villagers again how to build and fix their stoves again so that the villagers can maintain their stoves independently.

Elikana shared some of his thoughts on having other options for villagers. He said that giving villagers the options of a rocket stove, sawdust stove, coffee husk stove, or briquettes lets them choose which option is best for them. He was supportive of briquetting and was interested to learn about the progress DHE students have been making. He expressed concern about using paper in briquettes but was excited to learn that DHE students will be trying to create a 100 percent agro briquette mixture. Elikana suggested the use of palm press cake as a binder. He was very excited with the work JGI and DHE have done on alternative fuel technologies and is open to any ideas for expansion.

Stove Built!

For the past few days, we have worked with Bernard to build another stove, incorporating design modifications inspired by DHE stove development on campus, PFD’s Jiko Bomba, and Bernard. Although the DHE group on campus developed a really cool method of lighting the stove based on the technique used for three stone stoves, both Bernard and Didas felt it was important to avoid using firewood and emphasized that obtaining kerosene and matches would not be an obstacle in Arusha or its outskirts. Therefore, we opted to deviate from the designs of the stove built on campus and create a new design.

Our first modification was creating a mechanism to control the primary air. To do this, we drilled more holes in the center of the base plate than on the outside, as compared to the original stove. Then, we created a disk that with the same size and alignment of holes as on the base plate. We used a screw to attach the centers of the base plate and disk. The disk can be rotated with a handle extending between the two legs at the bottom of the stove. Depending on the disk’s orientation, the holes of the disk and the base plate align and allow lots of air to flow or are closed and allow little air to flow. This is best seen in these pictures:

Primary air holes completely open

Primary air holes completely closed

The aim of this modification is to regulate the size of the flame so that the fuel can burn hot and fast for boiling water or slower for cooking beans or other foods. We were inspired by the gate on the Jiko Bomba which allows the used to adjust the amount of primary air. 

A second modification we made was to help users mix the sawdust or coffee husk to maintain a good flame. We noticed the fire would decline and eventually start smoking unless we stirred the fuel with a stick. The stick stirring strategy worked but is not feasible if a user is in the middle of cooking a meal. To fix this, we bent two sets of wires into this shape:

These wires are then inserted into the bottom holes of the stove and can be rotated in order to stir the biomass.

A third design modification we have made is to create stands coming out from the chimney as a pot holder in place of a pot skirt. This reduces the amount of sheet metal needed and to make the stove. More importantly, it makes the stove compatible with all different pot sizes. Various NGOs and people we have talked to say that there is no standard pot size and that the size will differ by family size and food being prepared. However, this no-pot-skirt modification does sacrifice some stove efficiency.

Additionally,  we added guides on the outside of the fuel canister in order to ensure that the outer shell is roughly equidistant from the fuel canister around the full circumference. Credit here goes to Bernard.

Building the Stove

After discussing these modifications with Bernard, we began to build the stove. We bought an eight foot by four foot long piece of sheet metal for 60,000 shillings and then paid another 2,000 shillings to get it delivered to the workshop. Bernard had tools and other scrap pieces for the feet, so this is all that we needed to buy. According to our calculations, it is possible to make exactly three stoves from one such piece of sheet metal. This number depends on whether we build the taller stove, the most recent stove design received from the stove group in Hanover or the 10 cm shorter version we carried with us to Tanzania. We built the taller stove so that we could price out the most recent design and see whether the taller fuel canister will permit longer burn times.

Bernard showed us how to cut the sheet metal and then Misha and Julie Ann did the cutting. Next, Bernard smoothed the edges and cut the circle pieces out. We all worked on bending the thicker sheet metal into a circular shape, and Bernard welded the pieces together and smoothed them out. After that, we marked where we’d like the holes drilled and Misha and Julie Ann drilled the holes as Bernard instructed them. Julie Ann and Ayushi marked where to cut the mixing tabs on the inner canister of the stove while Misha finished drilling the holes.

We returned the next afternoon to continue measuring out pieces for the handles, pot holders, and primary air controller, all at 3 cm by 30 cm. Misha then cut out the marked pieces. Julie Ann and Ayushi worked on marking out how many stoves a 8 foot by 4 foot piece of sheet metal. As mentioned earlier, we discovered that one piece could make three stoves and then some. That means that the material costs for each stove amount to 20,000 shillings. This number, however, does not account for the material needed for the legs or stirring rods.


After Misha cut out the last few pieces, Julie Ann and Ayushi worked on bending the pot holders and handles. Bernard then began welding the stove to conclude our day's work.  We returned on Monday and added the legs to the inner canister of the stove. Bernard used some spare square shaped tubes of metal. He welded them to the outside of the canister so that the outer shell would be elevated approximately 1 inch to allow for more secondary air. We also made two makeshift stirrers out of a piece of wire. 

We were very proud to have completed the stove after two full days of work! It has been a pleasure working in Bernard’s studio. This is our final product:

The stove disassembled:

A detailed drawing with dimensions etc. will follow.

Testing the Stove

For the first test burn, we used larger sawdust and filled the canister about half way. The burn lasted about a half an hour, required no tending, and was very clean. The embers were still hot for another 20 minutes. It took about eight minutes to bring 1.5 liters of water to boil. Next, we tested a mixture of sawdust comprised mostly of fine sawdust and filled the canister all the way. We inserted a cylinder of expanded sheet metal on top of the hour glass shape to allow the fuel canister to be filled all the way. We were hoping this would increase the burn time as well as efficiency, thinking that more sawdust at the top would provide insulation. Unfortunately, this burn was rather smoky at times, required tending, and burned for 80 minutes. We used to IAP meter for this burn but have not yet analyzed the data. We believe that the sawdust used for the second burn was too fine and that there was not enough room for air to flow through the fuel bed. 

During these tests, we realized the importance of having a consistent fuel source. The type, size, and moisture content of the biomass have a large effect on the quality of the burn. It was difficult to compare the effects of the stove modifications when the fuel source was so different between trials. We discussed selecting only one loose biomass and focusing all our efforts towards optimizing the stove's performance for that one fuel. Later, it would still be possible to explore the stove's performance with other fuels.

As we were nearing the end of our final burn, a man on his way home from work stopped to watch. In a conversation mixing broken English and even weaker Swahili, we shared his enthusiasm for our stove, inquiring multiple times what it costs and where he could get one. 

Meeting with KDA

On Monday, May 14^th we visited Karatu Development Association (KDA). Karatu is a town 140 kilometers west of Arusha which borders Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara national parks. This NGO was established in 1991 with the goal of promoting sustainable development in the Karatu district. Its programs are focused on three main areas: microfinance, environment and sustainable agriculture, and support for social services. First we met Mr. Qorro, the KDA coordinator, and four of his staff members. After learning more about KDA's projects, we introduced DHE and our current projects in Arusha. In the afternoon, we went on a field visit to two local villages to see examples of KDA's biogas, stove, and microfinance programs. 

Biogas

Since 2008, KDA has developed and distributed domestic biogas systems with the technical support of Carmatech and Hivos. These systems convert cow manure and water into biogas and bio-slurry in the absence of oxygen. The biogas can be used as a fuel for cooking and lighting. So far, KDA has installed 140 plants in the Karatu district, and they plan to install another 175 by the end of 2012. The owners of the biogas system pay for the material costs, and KDA pays for the installation and any repairs within the first two years. A 9 cubic meter biogas tank costs about one million shilllings, while a 13 cubic meter tank costs 1.2-1.5 million shillings. Thus, the high initial cost of a domestic biogas system is a huge obstacle for many families. Currently only upper and upper middle income households are able to afford this renewable energy technology. 

In Bahashay, we had a tour of a farmer's biogas system. She accumulates a large pile of dung  from her 4 cows in her front yard and adds some to her 9 cubic meter biogas tank along the side of her house on a daily basis. Only two cows are needed to maintain a smaller 6 cubic meter tank. 

The domestic biogas system has three main parts: an adding and mixing chamber, digestion tank, and bio-slurry discharge pond. All three parts are connected by pipes, and another underground pipe carries biogas from the digestion tank to the kitchen stove.

The farmer was very excited to demonstrate her biogas stove. She turned on the biogas nozzle and lit a match over the burner and within seconds there was a roaring blue flame. By adjusting the nozzle, she can vary the height of the flame and the heat output. The farmer has used the stove to prepare three meals a day for the past year. In the past, she spent four to five hours per day collecting firewood, but now she can use that time to complete other domestic chores. Since the biogas stove produces no smoke and is so easy to use, even her husband has begun to help prepare meals.

The bio-slurry by-product from the biogas system is an excellent fertilizer. The farmer has used it fertilize her banana and papaya trees, and generates income from selling these fruits. 

Stoves

KDA has built and distributed 1,500 improved cook stoves throughout eleven villages. Their "rocket elbow" stove design has a horizontal chamber where firewood is added and a vertical chamber where combustion occurs and heat is channeled to the pot. It is constructed out of a framework of bricks and clay and a firebox of pumice and cement. Households using KDA's stove consume only 4 kg of firewood per day, instead of 13 kg of firewood consumed per day on typical three-stone stoves. KDA's stove program was established in 2006 but was phased put in 2008 due to lack of funding. One challenge was obtaining and transporting pumice, an insulating material found at the base of the volcanic Mt. Meru in Arusha. Thus, KDA emphasizes the importance of using locally available materials. No more stoves have been constructed since the stove program was phased out, but members of the stove building team continue to repair stoves throughout the village. 

We visited several sites in Endabash where KDA's improved cooks stoves are installed. Individuals must pay for and obtain the materials for the stove, as well as a 6,000 shilling labor fee. Unlike biogas systems, this is not a financial obstacle for most families in the village. Stove elements are fired in a kiln at the stove workshop and then installed in homes, restaurants, and schools. Although all stoves have the same basic design, each stove set-up (number of stoves, height, size of pot) differs slightly based on the needs of the client.The single, smaller stove above is used in a home. 

This stove set-up which accommodates three very large pots is used at a school to prepare lunches. Each student brings two pieces of firewood to school twice per week, which is a huge improvement over bringing firewood every day when the school was using three-stone stoves.

Microfinance

KDA's microfinance program is particularly active. It is structured somewhat differently than EARDCI's microfinance program in that clients are organized into small groups of four to six people instead of large Village Community Banks (VICOBA) with fifteen to thirty members. KDA believes that its clients are more accountable with repaying their loans when they report to a smaller, tight-knit group of friends. Most of KDA's clients are women, and their business must be at least one year old before than can receive a loan. Five to six small groups report to a center office in each village. The center office serves as a liaison between KDA and the small groups. It approves loan applications and conducts viability assessments and sustainability studies. Once a month KDA visits the center office in each village to distribute loans and receive loan payments. KDA's clients pay 2% interest on their loans each month. 

In Endabash, we ate lunch at the restaurant of one of KDA's clients and spoke to her about KDA's microfinance program. The owner has recieved several loans  ranging from one hundred thousand to one million shillings over the past five years. She has used the money to buy a dairy cow and tract of land, as well as to establish a small restaurant. The restaurant owner credits her success to KDA's microfinance program and has encouraged many of her friends to join as well. 

Clearly DHE learned a ton during our meeting and field visit with KDA. DHE should take note of the challenges faced by KDA's improved cook stove program; namely,  DHE's stove should be constructed from locally available materials. Additionally, DHE should thoroughly train members of the community on how to build and repair such stoves so that they may continue to be used long after DHE has phased out of the community. When developing stove distribution models, DHE should consider the advantages and disadvantages associated with both KDA's and EARD-CI's microfinance programs. It would be extremely valuable for summer DHE travellers working on biogas assesment to visit KDA and learn from its successful program. We give a huge thanks to Mr. Qorro and the staff at KDA for our enjoyable and informative day in Karatu!

Tour of Stove Workshop and Pellet Factory

Our visit with Partners for Development and Kiwia & Laustsen Limited continued on Wednesday, May 9th. First, Mr. Pommerville and Mr. Laustsen gave us a tour of the PFD stove factory in Arusha. Four to five laborers produce approximately 150 stoves per week. The factory contains several large pieces of equipment including a shear for cutting the inner and outer sheet metal cylinders, rollers, a circle cutter and drill press for making the bottom grate, and a universal nibbling machine for cutting the mixing tab plate. The workshop has been open for one year, but already PFD is looking into expanding to a larger workshop and mechanizing some of the processes. Although DHE will never produce stoves at PFD's large scale, we found it very informative to visit the workshop and consider ways we could streamline our stove design to make it easier to manufacture.  

Our next stop was Diligent Tanzania Limited, a factory for producing biomass pellets and briquettes.The "moto bomba" pellets which fuel  the "jiko bomba" are made of rice husk, sawdust, and jatropha press cake. Large shipments of these raw materials are delivered to Diligent, and once processed the pellets are distributed and sold throughout northern Tanzania. 

Jatropha is a poisonous, tropical shrub. It is often planted in hedges at the edge of farms to serve as a live fence for animals. As part of its Jatropha Agriculture & Nutrition Initiative, PFD buys Jatropha from a collective of 42,000 farmers spread across eight regions of Tanzania.

Jatropha seeds are crushed to extract jatropha oil, which can be processed to form a biodiesel fuel. The jatropha press cake residue can be used as a fertilizer, or in this case, mixed with other biomass to form pellets or briquettes. 

The first step in producing the "moto bomba" pellets is mixing the jatropha press cake, sawdust, and rice husks. 

Next, the mixture is run through a pelleting machine five times. Each time the mixture passes through, the pellets are heated and become harder, developing an oily patina on the outside. 

Lastly, the pellets are dried in the sun. Production is slowest during the rainy season of March through May. 

The pellets are distributed to "jiko bomba" users throughout northern Tanzania at a price of 350 shillings per kilogram. A household of five which uses PFD's stove will save about $17-25 per month on fuel.

Diligent also produces briquettes from jatropha press cake for industrial-scale applications.The briquettes are sold to local restaurants, schools, and hospitals to fuel stoves and hot water heaters.  Each briquette is a cylinder with a diameter of eight centimeters and length of one meter. The jatropha press cake is poured into the machine below, and the briquette is slowly extruded from the chamber with a high temperature and pressure. 

WADEC Visit

This morning, we visited Women in Agriculture Development and Environmental Conservation (WADEC). We met with three of WADEC's six workers, Helen, the director, and Teresa and Angel, two field workers. They were very kind and so excited about our projects. They fed us some wonderful bread and tea after a wonderful discussion about what WADEC does, what DHE does, and what potential exists for partnership in the future.

We learned that WADEC has a number of initiatives to address its vision to have a community that is technically and economically empowered through equitable utilization of natural resource basis sustainable rural development. Some of these initiatives are agriculture development and environmental protection, women economic empowerment, research training and consulting, reproductive health, human rights and gender development, and other ongoing projects.WADEC is headed by women only and sees the base of development in Tanzania to be with women. The NGO works with various groups including women's groups, youth groups, farmers groups, and economic development groups to address the issues in various communities. WADEC works with many other organizations, both non-governmental and governmental. These collaborators help connect villages and WADEC so that WADEC can help the village address their concerns. 

We see great potential partnership with WADEC as an organization that can help us connect with user groups for our technologies. WADEC was particularly interested in the briquetting project. The stove, they said, is less versatile than briquetting and does not quite fit the user groups they work with. They did suggest that the specifics of cooking Tanzanian meals needs to be determined and explained for user groups when distributing the stove. Briquetting, however, can be used by the wide variety of villages as a means to reduce environmental degradation from cutting down trees, improve health by reducing smoke inhaled, and aiding in economic development by saving families money and creating jobs. WADEC would like the group to return in the summer to work with WADEC for a few days to begin a pilot program or two in various villages the organization works with. We agreed that this might be a great opportunity for both groups and hope that the summer trip can join WADEC for a few days to demonstrate the briquette press, show how to burn briquettes, and do a preliminary training so that community members can begin to develop their own briquette mixtures that might be successful. DHE can work with user groups with WADEC for more extensive implementation when we are ready.

Overall, WADEC seemed very excited to work with DHE and we see a strong potential partnership in the future.

Meeting with Partners for Development

On Tuesday, we met with Mark Pommerville, the country director of Partners for Development, and Bjarne Laustsen of Kiwia & Laustsen Limited. PFD has contracted Kiwia & Laustsen to produce an improved cook stove, “Jiko Bomba,” which burns biomass pellets. It was very helpful to learn about their stove distribution model as well as to share with them our stove design and discuss some of the challenges we have faced.

The ”moto bomba” pellets which fuel  the “Jiko Bomba” gasification stove are made out of jatropha press cake, rice husk, and sawdust. Overall this gasification stove burns the pellets very efficiently with low carbon monoxide and particular matter emissions. The stove is made out of 1.2mm sheet metal and has a lifespan of about two years. One challenge PFD has faced is that the primary air mixing tab plate has a shorter lifespan of about nine months. They are considering constructing this piece out of a more durable stainless steel. Additionally, PFD is considering painting the stove with heat resistant paint to protect the metal from rust and corrosion. Unfortunately, both of these options add significant cost to a stove which is already more expensive than PFD would like.

One key feature of PFD’s stove is an adjustable gate for primary air. The gate is left open to start the burn but is gradually closed off as the burn progresses. After closing off the primary air, only secondary air is available and the flame is generated solely from gases released by the pellets. This lengthens the burn time of the stove. If a fast and hot burn is needed, the primary air gate can be opened. The amount of primary air needs to be monitored somewhat to keep the flame at the desired intensity, but otherwise the stove does not need to be tended. After the flame goes out, the top part of the stove can be removed and the pellet embers can continue to cook food for another 45 minutes. We observed that the stove burned very cleanly and we could not discern any smoke produced.

PFD has a target price of 30,000 shillings per stove, although currently the production costs are slightly higher. Nevertheless, they have begun distribution. PFD has an entire sales team devoted to selling the stove. They visit various churches, women’s groups, VICOBAs, and community groups to demonstrate how to light the stove and prepare meals on it. Furthermore, they describe the Jiko Bomba’s advantages:  the stove has a much longer lifespan than the typical charcoal stove and the user will see huge savings on fuel after about a month of use.

Target users of the “Jiko Bomba” are households which currently use charcoal stoves. Charcoal stoves cost about 10,000 to 12,000 shillings and must be replaced every six months. Additionally, households pay about 45,000 to 60,000 shillings per month for charcoal. Therefore, charcoal stove users would benefit from fuel savings within one month of purchasing the “Jiko Bomba.”  Other potential users are those who live in areas where firewood is very scarce. Typically, families spend about 20,000 to 25,000 shillings per month on firewood, although these figures can be much higher in some regions. These numbers seem accurate based on the VICOBAs we visited with EARD-CI. Households in two VICOBAs spend about 24,000 shillings per month, while households in the other spend about 48,000 per month.

Although some users may complain that an improved cook stove isn’t as effective as a three stone stove in heating a home or repelling mosquitoes with the extra smoke, PFD hasn’t found such criticisms to be large obstacles.  The “Jiko Bomba” emits some excess heat which could easily warm a room. Furthermore, not very many families rely on smoke to remove insects, and the health benefits of a smokeless stove are extremely desirable. We learned that in some rural areas, women are killed because the smoke turns their eyes red and they are then considered to be witches. Clearly there are huge benefits to a smokeless stove, and overall the stove has a had a very positive reception.

After learning more about PFD’s stove, we’ve continued to think more about DHE’s stove and its distribution. First, we’ve realized the importance of allowing the user to adjust the amount of primary air and thus the flame intensity. Bernard has helped us develop a gate for adjusting the primary air on our stove prototype. We also see the merits of having a stove that needs little tending. Our stove requires some stirring and sometimes kicking every few minutes to keep the flame going. We’re working with Bernard to improve the stirring process and reduce the amount of tending. We also see that at the end of the burn, the embers are still hot enough to continue to heat food. If we stick to a two piece design like we have so far, we can remove the lid and create a sort of stand for the pot to sit on at the end of the burn. This is yet another design modification for us to consider.

We feel that PFD’s stove specifications are good targets for our stove as well. Our goal is to develop a stove with a two year lifespan (although the wire mesh insert will need to be replaced more frequently) and a price under 30,000 shillings. The target price will be very difficult to meet, considering PFD still hasn’t reached its target. We will continue to try our best to keep the price low while producing a quality product. Mr. Pommerville emphasized that the durability and quality of the stove is crucial, as people won’t invest in a stove if they don’t think it will last. Additionally, more thought and research must go into developing a durable insert. Bernard suggests that we try to find a material and design which would last at least one month (about 90 burns), or else replacing the insert will become an obstacle and financial burden for stove users.

Moreover, we learned that most widely available waste biomass in the Arusha region are sawdust, coffee husk, rice husk, corn husk, and corn cobs. Some supply factors inhibit the use of some of these materials. For example, coffee is processed in Moshi, about an hour away, so the husks aren’t as readily available in Arusha. Also, corn cobs are good to burn, but aren’t collected on a large scale. Additionally, once a use is found for these waste materials, they will no longer be free and may have a minimal price. If we would like to move forward with burning coffee husks rather than sawdust, we may want to consider working more with partners in Moshi or Karatu.

We also feel that DHE would benefit by using a distribution model similar to PFD’s, albeit on a much smaller scale. Once we have completed the technical development of the stove, we can work with Kakute Limited and NGOs in Arusha to develop a distribution model.  Like PFD, we may want to have pilot programs in two areas distributing about ten stoves in each community.

Seeing PFD’s stove has given us much of food for thought. It has taken PFD and Kiwia & Laustsen about three years to develop their stove, and they still continue to make modifications and improvements. Although DHE’s stove won’t  be ready for distribution this summer, we feel that time invested in developing the stove and testing the biomass available in the Arusha region would be time well spent. We truly learned a lot from our meeting with PFD, and we hope that DHE may continue to draw upon PFD’s expertise as we move forward with our improved cook stove project in Arusha. 

Stove Development

This weekend we dove into work on our loose biomass stove. On Saturday we met with Didas, the chairman of Education Model Organization (EMORG). Based just outside of Arusha in Kisongo, EMORG is an NGO devoted to the improvement of education. They have constructed a community library with resources and programming for pre-school, primary, and secondary school students as well as teachers and community members. EMORG’s long-term goals include building a school and a vocational training center. EMORG shares DHE’s commitment to the environment and community health, and they were very excited to learn about our loose biomass stove project. Potentially the stove could be constructed by students at the vocational training center and distributed to families in the Kisongo area served by the library.

But before distribution comes the technical development of the stove! On Saturday, Didas invited us to his home and we used a fine saw dust to demonstrate how the loose biomass stove works. Together we brainstormed some design modifications, such as slightly increasing the diameter of the stove to accommodate larger cooking pots commonly found in the markets of Tanzania. Furthermore, Didas encouraged us to try creating a larger wire mesh insert for packing biomass in the stove. Last summer’s DHE travelers in Kigoma tested a variety of inserts of different sizes and shapes, so we know that the dimensions of the insert have a large effect on the size and the heat of the flame.

On Monday, Didas introduced us to Bernard to begin construction on our stove. Bernard is a skilled metal worker and brilliant inventor. When he attended the International Development Design Summit in 2007, he left as a bicycle mechanic and returned as an inventor. He has visited MIT’s D-Lab numerous times over the past few years and served as the Designer-In-Residence. Some of Bernard’s projects include a bicycle cell phone charger, bicycle grain mill, bicycle blender, solar water heater, and drip irrigation system. All of his projects are constructed out of locally available and mostly recycled materials. Working with Bernard the past few days has been an amazing opportunity to learn about designing technologies with the needs of local communities in mind.

Bernard’s workshop is based in the Nane Nane Agricultural Grounds in Njiro, Arusha. Three organizations which share this workshop are TWENDE, Accelerating Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (AISE), and Global Cycle Solutions.These organizations truly embrace the model of creative capacity building (CCB) developed by MIT’s D-Lab which empowers people living in poverty to create technologies to improve their lives and livelihood. We have enjoyed meeting the staff of these organizations, and we have found that the workshop is an ideal place for collaborating and developing new ideas for our stove project. 

Over the coming days, we will be returning to Bernard’s workshop to make modifications and practice burns on the stove prototype we brought with us from Thayer. We plan to begin construction on a new stove at the end of this week. Bernard encouraged us to keep the costs of our stove under 50,000 TSH (about $30). Charcoal stoves cost about 10,000-12,000 TSH, and households pay about 15,000 TSH per week on charcoal. Though our stove has a considerably higher initial cost, households will save money on buying fuel such as sawdust or coffee husks. When we are ready for distribution, Bernard suggested we give a stove to one of the “mamas” who sell food along the side of the road to demonstrate how the stove is used and generate interest in the stove.

Overall, we are very grateful to have met both Didas and Bernard, and are eager to continue work on the loose biomass stove!

More VICOBA Visits

During our second week with EARD-CI, we visited two more VICOBA groups to learn more about the different environments and economic situations of the various villages EARD-CI works with. When we visited the second VICOBA on Monday, it was our third time driving out to the village. The first two times, the village was experiencing some social problems that prevented us from presenting to them. Luckily, this third time, they were able to give us some time to present. 

Because we had to squeeze seven people in the car, we only brought the single lever press which was smaller and easier to carry. As a consequence, the machine didn't have the appearance of a great tool to work with and required more effort for the VICOBA to use. Nevertheless, they seemed excited about the technology and said that they would try to see how they could prepare either that press, or the compound lever press whose manual we brought with us. They did want to see both presses in person this coming Monday for the carpenters to look at along with the drawings, but unfortunately, there was no one available to take us to the VICOBA. We will work with EARD-CI to make sure the appropriate next steps are taken with this VICOBA as we will not be able to visit. Compared to the first VICOBA, this VICOBA has fewer members, is located in a dryer, more barren environment, has less farming, and spends half as much money on firewood per week (6,000 shillings, same price of 2,000 per bundle). Villagers in this village also have an extensive process to cut down firewood which is that they have to appeal to the village leaders and then a leader has to come and see the tree to approve it being cut down.

The third VICOBA we visited was located in a green environment which was slightly dryer than the first VICOBA but had more agriculture than the second VICOBA. This VICOBA spent the same amount of money as the second VICOBA on firewood  (6,000 shillings for 3 bundles) which was half as much as the first VICOBA. This VICOBA had a similar village leaders appeal policy for cutting down firewood as the second VICOBA, but the leader didn't actually have to come to the tree. For this visit, we made sure to bring the large press and we presented how the press and briquette making process work. The VICOBA members were excited to learn more about this new technology and tried it themselves. They were more excited than the second VICOBA members, but less than the first VICOBA group members.

Overall, it seems like we have three solid village groups who are interested in briquetting and might be good groups for pilot programs. The first village we visited seems most eager and might be the best village to move forward with initially. If more than one pilot program can be initiated, both of the other VICOBAs seem to be excellent as well. While these villagers spend less money on firewood per week, firewood appears to be more scarce and briquetting might make a more significant impact in these areas.