When asked if he could think of any way to help protect the people in IDP camps in Darfur, after some consideration, Berkeley Physicist, Dr. Ashok Gadgil, decided that a stove might help go some way to solving the problem.
As you may know, The World Health Organization estimates that 1.5 million people die prematurely each year from exposure to indoor smoke from burning solid fuels, making it one of the single biggest killers in the world. However, what is less well known are the vulnerabilities people face procuring scarce fuel resources -- a particular problem for Darfuris in IDP camps who, while they receive food aid and cooking oil from a variety of humanitarian aid organizations, remain responsible for gathering firewood as fuel for cooking.
Although Darfur is almost entirely desert, scattered trees exist in the periphery of the camps. These trees and their branches are used as a nearby source for cooking fuel. However, due to the size of the displaced persons camps and the duration of their existence, wood is a scarce resource. As the environment around the camps become increasingly deforested, the time needed to gather firewood increases. Today, Darfuri women must walk up to seven hours, three to five times per week, just to find a single tree. As continuing pressure is placed on the environment, women and young girls must walk further and further from the relative safety of the camps in search of wood. These searches are the primary reason women and girls venture outside the camps.
When women and girls spend extensive time outside of the camps, they become increasingly vulnerable to acts of violence -- particularly rape. However, men caught outside the camps are killed, presenting families with a truly invidious choice.
As a consequence, some women have decided to purchase wood from middlemen rather than search for it. However, as payment for the firewood, families are often forced to sell their food rations or spend what little income they possess. Another invidious choice.
The economic and social costs of firewood mean that as many as half of Darfur families in displaced persons camps miss at least one meal per week. The search for firewood decreases both the human security and food security of Darfuri displaced persons.
Which is why Dr. Ashok Gadgil decided the solution to the problem was a stove.
“The Berkeley-Darfur Stove is an innovative appropriate technology that requires only one quarter the amount of firewood needed to cook using traditional three-stone fires. Because of its fuel efficiency, use of the Berkeley-Darfur Stove limits the amount of time women in Darfur need to spend outside the safety of the displaced persons camps to gather fuel for cooking. This decreases exposures to violence for Darfuri women while also limiting deforestation and the release of toxic indoor smoke.”
Darfur Stoves explains more.
Aprovecho is another organisation developing stove to address the issues of woodsmoke, fuel security and environmental depletion.
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Thanks for posting this John. Its such a big issues. Whilst I was in Kenya a young boy died when he was run over after leaving a camp to collect firewood. It was so sad.