28 Feb 3.700 improved pyrolytic clean cooking stoves Elsa produced and distributed by Biochar Plus project

The EU ACP Science and Technology II Programme published the Biochar Project results. Thanks to the coordination of the University of Udine (I) and carried out with the cooperation of Starter, the project produced and distributed more than 3.700 improved pyrolytic clean cooking stoves Elsa in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone. Also, 48 farmers experienced the increasing in their crop yield thanks to the biochar application to soil in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. In the same countries, 67 rural communities were exposed to the benefits associated to the introduction of a local system based on the use of the improved clean cooking Elsa stove and on biochar application as soil amendant. In Ghana, as project spin off, a local SME has been established producing and distributing Elsa stoves and pellets from waste biomass as corn cobs and palm oil kernels. To date, more than 6.000 Elsa stoves have been produced and distributed, becoming this activity a concrete opportunity for local socioeconomic development.
Biochar Plus project is a small and effective solution addressing few of the major issues that developing countries face. This initiative works toward reversing the negative health, climate implications of traditional cook stoves and open fires by replacing them with clean burning pyrolysis cook stoves that utilize non-competitive agricultural and agro-industrial waste streams, while producing highly carbonized product – biochar – that has a capacity to replenishing soil organic matter, enhance soil fertility and productivity and reversing agricultural land degradation.
We are pleased of the results achieved so far, and of the opportunities raised thanks to our dedication. They are still producing results thanks to the commitment of Jimma University (Ethiopia), Bindura University (Zimbabwe), ASA Initiative (Ghana), Lomè University (Togo), CORD SL (Sierra Leone). Besides, we are grateful to the European Union funding this initiative, to the African Union Commission, UNIDO and Cornell University (USA), which are providing support.

ELSA cooking stove demonstration to researchers and women, Jimma, Ethiopia.