At a stakeholders meeting in Dar es Salaam held by the NGO, manager Erick Wurster said the project is meant to curb deforestation and improve air quality by manufacturing or importing charcoal and wood fuel efficient biomass stoves.
Mr Wurster explained that according to World Health Organisation (WHO), it is estimated that 27,000 deaths occur every year in Tanzania from firewood and charcoal stoves and destroying an average of 121,000 hectares of forests.
He said that air pollution from cooking with solid fuel on primitive stoves was a key risk factor in childhood acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia as well as many other respiratory, cardiovascular and ocular diseases.
He said the problem is set to amplify given that more than 95 per cent of Tanzania's population relies on dangerous and inefficient cooking fuel.
Mr Wurster said that the new technology will include `Envirofit stoves' and `Quality Jiko' to be imported from China. Later, he said, Tanzanians would be trained on how to manufacture the stoves locally. He said after introduction of the stoves, the project will extend to water filtration systems, replacing the need to boil water using firewood.
For the full story and source: The Citizen
