ARTI has just received our first shipment of Envirofit’s improved cookstoves.

The cookstoves, available for both charcoal (CH5200) and wood (M5000),  have been designed specifically to maximise fuel efficiency and minimise cooking times & harmful emissions. Manufactured using state-of-the-art, patent pending technologies, the cookstoves provide quality, affordable solutions for  household and commerical cooking.

The unique design of Envirofit cookstoves maximises heat transfer  to enable:

Reduced fuel consumption of up to 60% – creating significant financial savings for users

Reduced cooking times of up to 50%

The cookstoves specially designed combustion chamber also reduces smoke and soot by up to 80% compared to traditional cooking techniques, greatly reducing indoor air pollution and its harmful health effects.

The cookstoves are extremely high quality. They are specially designed in the USA, using unique quality materials and the stoves have a 5 year warranty on the combustion chamber.

The cookstoves are available from purchase in person at ARTI’s offices, Nishati Mkombozi shop in Mwenge or contact ARTI directly.

Click on the photos below to find out more about the individual cookstoves.

Envirofit’s CH5200 Charcoal Cookstove

Envirofit’s M5000 Wood Cookstove

ARTI made its second site visit for the wPower project on March 21 and 22. We visited the Vingunguti area in Ilala district of Dar es-Salaam where we met 63 Village Agents (VAs). These VAs were representing approximately 630 groups comprising 25-30 members or 18,900 potential customers from CARE International’s Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA).

ARTI technician, Brenda Allan introduces Barefoot Power products to the Village Agents

On the first day we introduced the ARTI Energy team and explained the fundamentals of the wPower project to the VAs. We then introduced the products, solar lights and clean energy cookstoves that the VAs will be distributing as clean energy entrepreneurs. We provided the VAs with technical training focused on the features and installation of the products along with trouble-shooting and maintenance. Focus was also placed on the business aspects of the projects such as record keeping and the distribution and sales structure of the project along with explanations of the process of ARTI’s after-sales services. We also demonstrated some of supporting promotional materials the wPower team will provide.  This includes banners, fliers and technical tools needed to begin the VAs clean energy entreprises.

ARTI’s Glory Tarimo and CARE’s Francis Songela describe how the structure of the wPower project works

Our training visit also served as an opportunity to meet with the Jumuiya group that serves as an umbrella organisation to monitor, co-ordinate and represent the VAs in the Ilala region. They will be working closely with ARTI throughout the wPower project to help ensure the success of the project for the VAs in Ilala.

VAs watch the lighting of Envirofit’s M5000 wood cookstove

All the VAs responded very positively to the training days and ARTI is excited to begin the next stage of the project, distributing of the products to the VAs that will enable them to become clean energy entrepreneurs.

Brenda shows a VA how to install Barefoot Power’s PowaPack 5W solar system.

Some of the VAs potential customers look at the M5000 wood cookstove.

Five trainings focused on char powder production have been held since February 2013 involving a total of 200 participants from Bagamoyo and Kibaha district in the Pwani Region, Tanzania.

These trainings are part of our project, Scaling-Up of Charcoal Briquette Production in Tanzania  which aims at supporting various stakeholders to produce and supply 2000 tons of non-wood charcoal briquettes per year in Dar es Salaam.

Yasin Thabiti with non-wood charcoal briquettes made from dry biomass

Part of the objectives of these trainings is to support Tanzanians in rural areas to increase their income by developing a simple activity that uses readily available resources: the production of char powder by using dry biomass (grasses, leaves, sawdust, coconut husks and other type of agricultural waste). The trained villagers then sell the char powder to one of the two briquette production units also supported by ARTI TZ.

One of the trainees with char powder obtained from the burning of dry biomass

In this project, we work on all steps of the non-wood briquette charcoal value chain: char production and supply at village level, charcoal briquette manufacturing at two production units at district level, marketing and sales within the Dar-Es-Salaam charcoal market.

The trainings are a key component of the first step of the value chain. Villagers and especially farmers are often lacking income opportunities, and yet, they have access to a valuable resource; dry biomass such as grasses, leaves, agriculture waste, coconut shells, rice and maize husks which are, in most cases, considered as waste. This dry biomass is perfect for making non-wood charcoal briquettes. Therefore we train the villagers on how to make char powder by burning this dry biomass with a special kiln.

Different types of dry biomass such as coconut husks and grasses used in the production of char powder

The trainings last 2 days and are facilitated by our Field Officer, Yasin Thabiti who is a former char producer and our program manager, Manon Lelievre. The trainings are mostly ‘hands-on’: the participants are divided into small working groups which are each given a set of equipment including a kiln. This method enables the participants to become at ease with the use of the kilns and very comfortable with the whole process of char powder production. They are taught what kind of waste to use, which are the best, the quality required as well as the different safety practices to apply and how to use the safety gears properly. Certificates of completion are handed over the last day.

Women learning how to use the kiln

After each training, ARTI Tanzania signs contracts with the interested groups for them to become char suppliers of one of the two briquette production units. ARTI provides equipments, training and transport of the produced char powder while the char producers (organized as groups most of the time) must supply at least 200 kg of char per week. Each kilo of char powder worst 150Tsh.

Training participants with their certificates following the char powder training.

In the coming months, we will be carrying out about 13 trainings in order to achieve our objective to train over 700 Tanzanians in char production.

Read more about the ‘Scaling-Up of Charcoal Briquette Production in Tanzania‘ project and our two briquette production units in upcoming news.