Background

More than 80% of Ghanaian households use wood or charcoal as their main cooking fuel. Whilst wood is used in rural areas, charcoal is common in urban areas because it is light and easy to transport and quick to light. Charcoal is used by approximately 1.3 million households or 31% of all families in Ghana. In the capital city of Accra, about 70% of households use charcoal for cooking.

However, deforestation rates in Ghana are amongst the highest in Africa, with current levels of wood-fuel consumption far exceeding forest growth. The charcoal production process contributes heavily to this deforestation and is responsible for high emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. This is because charcoal is produced in simple earth-mound kilns with carbonisation ratios of about 8 tonnes of wood to 1 tonne of charcoal, meaning that large volumes of wood are consumed to make it.

An opportunity has arisen to encourage the deployment of efficient charcoal stoves to households in Ghana, reducing charcoal consumption and therefore alleviating the problems associated with its use.

The project

Most families cook with charcoal in a metal grate or ‘coal-pot’ that burns very inefficiently. This project replaces coal pots with an efficient insulated stove, known as the Gyapa. Users of the Gyapa are pleased with the effects: they observe that the stove keeps going for longer periods, cooks food more quickly, is less smoky and uses less fuel. Careful fuel consumption tests undertaken as part of the baseline study showed that the Gyapa reduces charcoal consumption by 25%. The liners are made by a small group of accredited ceramicists who have received specialist training. The metal claddings are made by a further group of accredited manufacturers. Enterprise Works, our project partner in Ghana, provides training and quality control services, and distributes the stoves through a wide network of retailers. The baseline for the project is the quantity of charcoal used by the common-place inefficient charcoal stoves, translated into greenhouse gas emissions in kitchens, together with the greenhouse gas emissions arising from charcoal production in forest areas.

The benefits

Social

• Reducing fuel costs for families and freeing up money for other uses, thereby improving livelihoods of the poor.
• The new Gyapa stoves are less smoky, reducing emissions of hazardous air pollutants and improving the health of the cooks, typically mothers and children.

Economic

• Creating employment and building capacity throughout the supply chain i.e. in manufacturing, distribution, retailing, quality control and project management.
• Improving Ghana’s technological self-reliance - the stoves are locally manufactured and specialist skills are being developed and furthered in-country.

Environmental

• Significant savings in greenhouse gas emissions through a reduction in charcoal consumption.
• Reducing pressure on remaining forest reserves in Ghana, slowing widespread deforestation and aiding biodiversity.