ONDANGWA – The Pupkewitz Foundation has handed over 100 EzyStoves to the Oshana regional council and some local authorities as part of its support for current efforts to combat land degradation and desertification.
The handover that took place last week Friday at Ondangwa is also part of the Pupkewitz Foundation’s efforts to support COP-11. The EzyStoves innovation was a direct response to women’s concerns over deforestation, respiratory health, burns, poverty, unemployment and safety, while searching for firewood. The Pupkewitz Foundation supports educational, environment, community development and health initiatives among other areas of endeavor throughout Namibia and invests N$2 million annually. Marie Johansson who is responsible for the EzyStoves project said in Namibia 74 percent of rural households and 40 percent of urban households still rely primarily on wood as fuel for cooking. Johansson said each year households use approximately one million tonnes of firewood for cooking. “As trees become harder and harder to find, women are spending hours to find wood for the day and they even have to dig for roots systems to burn. The daily cutting of trees has caused alarming deforestation that has resulted in widespread desertification,” she noted. Smoke from open fires create dangerous soot and toxic gases during cooking, which contributes to ill health among women and children. Furthermore, the habitual use of wood for open fire cooking pollutes the atmosphere with greenhouses gases. The foundation also donated nine EzyStoves to nine beneficiaries in the Oshana Region.
Rural and urban Namibian women participating in the UNDP GEF-SGP Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change Pilot Programme developed the EzyStove concept, with the assistance of a Swedish design company. The Pupkewitz Foundation and the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia supported extensive piloting of the EzyStove. According to Tuhafeni Nghilunanye, EzyStoves project manager, they are looking to secure start-up capital in order to embark on scaling the EzyStoves project and to create 300 jobs nationwide. Speaking at the same event the mayor of Ondangwa Leornard Negonga said the project is a noble community based-initiative driven by local professionals from a wide spectrum of fields, whose purpose and focus is to improve the quality of life for the common people. In the speech read on his behalf Clemens Kashuupulwa the Governor of the Oshana Region urged people to utilize the EzyStove when cooking and to recommend it to their neighbours, friends and relatives to reduce air pollution, land degradation and deforestation.
By Loide Jason