Under normal circumstances, cooking tswii (tuber staple-food indigenous to Ngamiland) takes some 12 or so hours to cook but with BPC Lesedi’s Efficient Wood Stove the time is cut down to four hours.
Likewise, the cooking times for beef tripe and samp are reduced by one hour 30 minutes and one hour for respectively.
The wonders of this stove don’t stop there.
“The efficient wood stove uses less firewood hence reducing hours spent collecting wood prior to cooking. This product reduces the amount of wood used by 60 percent which benefits the environment in that excessive cutting down of trees for the purposes of producing energy for cooking is controlled to prevent deforestation,” explains Dineo Seleke, BPC Lesedi’s Regional Manager (Northwest) who is based in Maun.
Ngamiland has a serious problem of deforestation that is caused by various economic factors. One is the lucrative firewood market that has been the motivation for some people to cut down trees to produce wood fencing material – ‘droppers’ as these are more commonly known. Seleke says that there is high demand for these droppers by ranchers in both Ngamiland and next door in Gantsi district.
“In some cases, trees are cut down without permits and areas not recommended for this exercise are badly affected. Rotation of tree-cutting is not practised and education on how to harvest in a sustainable manner is not provided due to failure by individuals to declare their interest to cut down the trees to the relevant authorities. Trees are also cut and left to dry for use during domestic activities such as cooking and heating,” she says, adding that “there has also been a boom in firewood trade as the community in the area targets the tourism market.”
BPC Lesedi (Pty) Ltd offers this wonder stove a solution to this and other problems. The stove, which costs P175, requires less wood. The heat produced from burning wood is transmitted through the stove’s metal-and-ceramic body which retains temperature in such manner that energy is not lost to the environment. The movement of heat from a high to a low concentration area evenly distributes the temperature which is then acquired by the cooking equipment used. Any type of pot – as long as it is not made of plastic, can be used to cook food with the stove.
“Food cooked with the stove is not vulnerable to overcooking or burning which may result in loss of taste and quality as can happen with ordinary open-air cooking where there is no regulation of heat. The technology behind the stove automatically prevents the use of too much firewood that may produce excess heat that could then go to waste,” Seleke says.
According to Seleke, the stove reduces the amount of wood used by 60 percent and has been deliberately designed with an 11 centimetre inlet to allow only a few sticks of wood to be used during the cooking process.
“This feature is a strategic way of limiting unnecessary use of wood. The stove has been designed to capture and retain heat for a significant time frame,” she says, adding that the stove produces less smoke, thereby reducing incidence of respiratory diseases.
The stove has another (7-centimetre) inlet which stays open during cooking, thus allowing oxygen to circulate and reducing the production of carbon monoxide.
Alongside the stove is a complementary hot bag which – when there is need, can be used to continue the cooking process by maintaining temperature of food from the stove. Where heat has been introduced to food prior to its use, this bag (which costs P230) can assume the role of both microwave and stove. Like the stove, the hot bag does not produce harmful gases during food processing as it has been made of special material that traps temperature within its body.
Seleke says that the convenience of the hot bag allows one to initiate the cooking process on the stove and transfer it to the hot bag just as the food reaches its boiling point. This allows slow cooking and attending to other household chores without having to over-monitor the heat of the cooking process.
“The hot bag can also retain the temperature of cold food and water. Frozen food can be preserved for a profitable time frame which is why it is highly recommended for preservation of food, especially during travelling,” Seleke says.
She adds that aided by BPC Lesedi’s outreach demonstrations, demand for both products has been steadily growing and that the feedback they are getting is very positive. By her account, some customers have told them that food processed through these products comes out tender and toothsome.
“The other feedback we are getting is that the hot bag has made the cooking of samp and tripe much cheaper and time effective as there is no need to buy either firewood or gas. One can also attend to other household chores while the food is safely cooking,” she says. Recently her office participated in the Gantsi agricultural show, the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower Northern Trade Fair and the Botswana Consumer Fair.
Established in 2008, BPC Lesedi is a joint venture between the Botswana Power Corporation – a parastatal organisation, and EDFI, a French utility company. The former’s shareholding is 55 percent while the latter’s is 45 percent. The company’s mandate is to provide alternative electrification to areas that are off the national power grid. This initiative came about after a study revealed that 25 percent of villages in Botswana were not grid-electrified, 49 percent of the households in grid electrified villages were not connected to the grid and that 99 percent of settlements in the country were non-electrified.
BPC Lesedi operates a franchise system in which its agents sell renewable energy products designed for the purpose of electrification and other use.
Says Seleke: “BPC Lesedi owns all the equipment used in solar system installations and is also responsible for maintenance and recapitalisation when components like batteries wear out. BPC Lesedi provides business support to franchisees and provides technical and business skills training.”
She adds that her organisation’s role in the rural electrification initiative is to also support national programs on poverty eradication “since renewable energy will enhance energy poverty relief by replacing candles, paraffin and inefficient space heating and cooking methods.” At a time that the government wants to improve computer literacy and get as many of its citizens on the information superhighway as possible, Seleke says that the use of photo-voltaic solutions in rural schools would greatly enhance the possibility of such goal being attained.
