Back to the Green Island with Efficient Solar Stoves in Madagascar
In order to reduce CO2 and counter the rapid deforestation in Madagascar, myclimate supports the manufacture and distribution of efficient cookers and climate-friendly solar cookers. As part of this project, local pupils are taught about environmental protection and climate-friendly cooking. And one seedling goes towards reforestation with every cookstove sold.
The zero-emission solar cookers project
Our partner myclimate has teamed up with the Swiss-Madagascan organization ADES (Association pour le Développement de l'Energy Solaire). ADES has been producing solar cookers in Madagascar since 2002 and selling them at a reduced price to local households. Since 2010, the project has expanded its activities to the entire island and included efficient cookstove models that perfectly complement the use of solar cookers if the sun is not shining.
Today ADES offers a portfolio of nine different solar and efficient cookstove models for households, as well as for institutional and commercial clients, such as schools, children's homes, and hospitals. The project operates stove production and distribution centres all over the island to serve customers in Madagascar. Since 2017 a truck has been on the road serving as a mobile promotional and information centre in primarily rural areas in the north of Madagascar.
The environmental education program
ADES is currently setting up various events to increase the population's awareness of environmental and health protection, healthy eating and fuel-efficient cooking. With an innovative environmental education program, ADES is bringing school children and their teachers closer to their native flora and fauna and motivating them to act in an environmentally-friendly way.
The climate-friendly cookers save up to 50 percent of charcoal or firewood consumption, resulting in valuable monetary savings for the household’s budget or time savings and less frequent gathering of firewood. Women and children especially benefit from the zero-emission solar cookers or cleaner combustion of efficient cookers due to less exposure to smoke during cooking.
The dissemination of efficient and solar cookstoves is an effective means to combat the quickly advancing deforestation in Madagascar and to reduce CO2 emissions from the use of non-renewable biomass. Additionally, ADES finances one tree for reforestation each time a cook stove gets sold.
SDG 3: Mainly women and children benefit from better air quality.
SDG 4: During 712 school visits, almost 80,000 pupils and around 3,500 teachers have been made aware of climate protection and clean cooking.
SDG 5: Women and girls have to spend less time collecting fire wood and maintaining the cooking fire.
SDG 7: 212,220 solar and efficient cookstoves have been produced and sold.
SDG 8: 138 permanent employees and various work experience offers. Another 143 jobs with local suppliers and around 100 independent stove retailers.
SDG 12: Nine different stove models are being locally produced with local material in eight centres.
SDG 13: Each stove saves around 1.7 tonnes of CO2 per year and 2.3 tonnes of wood or 0.7 tonnes of charcoal.
SDG 15: 1.7 million tonnes of wood saved so far, equaling 8,810 ha of forest area saved.
SDG 17: Technology transfer and technological self-reliance.
"My grandmother says, Madagascar used to be a green Island. Today, it is a red island."
Constant technical improvements
The solar cookers are ideal for preparing traditional Madagascan food, such as rice, corn, manioc, meat soup or chicken. However, this new way of cooking requires a change in cooking habits. For this, ADES carries out special training and awareness-building programmes to ensure appropriate and convenient use of the solar cooking technology.
Since 2017, biomass instead of firewood gets used for firing the combustion chambers. These so-called artemisia briquettes are one-metre-long, weigh 10 kilograms and are made of the remaining biomass of the production process of antimalarial drugs. Together with the introduction of a semi-industrial production, the energy efficient cookstoves can not only be produced in a more climate-friendly way, but also in a more efficient way and in better quality.
