How a gasifier stove has changed Josephine’s life

Meet Josephine, a 58-year-old farmer who lives with her grandchildren in one village in Hoima. She is a beneficiary of a gasifier stove which was donated by a friend through our GlobalGiving campaign. More than 94% of rural families in Uganda use 3-stone stoves like Josephine’s. These stoves harm the environment and make people sick. Girls and women like Rosemary miss school to help get wood.

What is a Gasifier Stove

A gasifier stove is a type of clean, efficient cooking stove that uses a process called gasification to convert solid biomass (such as wood, or solid crop residues) into a clean-burning gas. Instead of burning the fuel directly like traditional stoves, it first heats the biomass to a high temperature, causing it to release gases. These gases are then burned, producing a clean and efficient flame. Instead of just ash, a gasifier stove produces charcoal as a byproduct. These stoves provide a more sustainable, clean, and fuel-efficient option for cooking, especially in rural areas where access to clean energy sources are limited.

Before acquiring the gasifier stove

Josephine used to walk far away from her home to collect firewood. She had to leave her small grandchildren alone and take much time away from her home. She spent several hours cooking on her old 3-stone stove, which isn’t safe or efficient. It used too much wood and produced a lot of smoke, which made her family sick. Josephine is one of the millions of rural women, who face challenges associated with using the traditional cooking stoves.

After getting the gasifier Stove

One person donated an improved cookstove through our online campaign, which changed everything for Josephine. She says that, she likes the fact that her stove makes charcoal, which she grids and puts into her soil as biochar – following a training by Giving Hope Foundation. She is able to use small twigs and prunnings from the bamboo what was given to her by Giving Hope in 2021. Josephine now has more time for herself, her farming work, and her grandchildren.

Stoves like this also help to save the environment and can save time and money for the users, which can be used to take care of other household necessities like buying medicines.

My stove cooks faster, produces very little smoke when I cook. It also uses much less wood and can also use maize cobs, which I used to throw away. Am very thankful to Giving Hope for giving me this wonderful stove!
Josephine - stove benefitiary Tweet

Josephine is one of hundred of farmers from Kitoba sub-county, Hoima, who is actively working with GivingHope Foundation to cause sustainable development in her area. Stoves like this help to save the environment and can save money for the users, which can be used to take care of other household necessities like buying medicines.

The positive changes in their lives

Since Josephine started using the gasifier stove, she has experienced numerous positive changes in her daily life. The stove cooks food faster and uses significantly less firewood compared to her old 3-stone stove, which means she spends less time and effort gathering fuel. The reduced smoke from the gasifier stove has improved her family’s health, decreasing their exposure to harmful emissions and respiratory issues. Additionally, the stove’s efficiency allows Josephine to save the charcoal produced for future use, offering both economic and environmental benefits.

Josephine’s story shows how a small act of generosity can make a big difference. With more improved stoves, more families like hers can have healthier and happier lives in Uganda.

Would you love to support this project?

You can donate this project to help provide more gasifier stoves to families in rural Uganda. Each stove has a significant impact, reducing the amount of firewood needed, lowering harmful smoke emissions, improving the health and well-being of women and children as well as helping improve depleted soils. Your contribution will help us expand access to these efficient, clean-burning stoves, thereby empowering families like Josephine’s to cook safely, save time, and protect their environment.

Every donation helps our mission to help rural farmers out of extreme poverty!