©  IRIN

ASMARA, - An innovative scheme to convert 500,000 traditional injera stoves across Eritrea will cut thousands of tons of carbon emissions each year and help to conserve the country’s precious supply of firewood.

For centuries, injera - a pancake-like food widely eaten in Eritrea - has been cooked on simple clay stoves, built over an open fire. However, the stoves are smoky, dangerous and require a substantial amount of firewood to burn effectively.

But scientists at the ministry of energy believe they have found a solution. By making a few simple design changes they have increased the efficiency and safety of the stoves - known as mogoggos - by over 100 percent.

“We have added a chimney, so that smoke no longer fills the kitchen, and an insulated firebox to conserve heat," Afeworki Tesfazion, the ministry's research director, told IRIN. "We have also improved ventilation, to allow the fire to burn better, so that it uses 50 percent less fuel.” He said the new stove also burns a wider range of fuels, such as animal dung, twigs and leaves.

The ministry estimates that each new stove reduces carbon emissions by 0.6 of a ton annually and saves 366 kg of firewood per household each year. The government hopes that every one of the 500,000 households currently thought to own a stove in Eritrea will convert to the new style. If this happens the environmental savings would be enormous.

The health benefits are also significant. Without the thick smoke pouring into their kitchens, women and children are less likely to suffer from the respiratory diseases and eye problems that affected many who used the old stoves.

The new mogoggo is already proving popular. In a scheme run by the government and backed by small grants from the British Embassy, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, and non-governmental organisations, dozens are being built in villages around the country every week. More than 5,000 households have already converted.

Under the scheme, village women are taught how to build the stoves themselves. They then teach other women, who teach others and so on. With free labour and free materials - the stoves are made of clay and rocks, which are easily available everywhere - the only cost is the accessories. Metal chimney caps, valves and doors, as well as clay fire grates and cement chimneys, are mostly made locally.

One village taking part is Mehiyaw, in Debub region, close to Eritrea’s southern border. Nearly half of the 160 households in Mehiyaw have already installed new mogoggos. Others in the village hope to do so soon.

Standing in her small, neat kitchen, Miriam Amman, proudly shows off her work. Miriam, a mother of six children, built the stove with help from women from another village one week ago. "I love it because there is no smoke in here anymore," she says. "My clothes are clean and the children can play in here while I cook. Before now nobody would come into the kitchen while the stove was lit. Also we use less wood, so I spend less time gathering it.”

The biggest challenge faced by the government now is to let people know about the new stoves - and persuade them to convert as soon as possible.

“The scheme has to be accessible to everyone,” said Afeworki Tesfazion. “They don’t have fax or phone, or email, they don’t come to Asmara to ask how to construct a mogoggo, so we have to reach them. The best way to do that is to teach 30,000 or 40,000, women so that they can pass their knowledge on to others, who in turn will pass it on to more women.”

The government is setting up a credit plan, to enable families to borrow money to build the stoves now - about US $8 each - and repay the loan when they can afford it. It estimates that the next stage of the project, including training the women and the credit scheme, will cost a further $500,000.

But so far, customers appear satisfied. In Mehiyaw, a group of Miriam Amma’s neighbours and friends crowd into her kitchen to admire her stove. It is larger and more elevated than the old fireplace, which required women - who do all the cooking in traditional Eritrean households - to bend low while preparing food.

In the small outdoor kitchen the stove is alight, but the air is clear. One woman points out the smoke-blackened corrugated tin roof, a reminder of Miriam’s old stove.

“At first nobody wanted these new mogoggos,” said Miriam. “But now they have seen how well they work, everybody wants one.”