Residents in Moyo district have turned to energy-saving stoves as an alternative energy source, in a move aimed at protecting the environment against degradation.
The residents were previously depending on charcoal and firewood as main energy sources and as means of earning a living. People in the district cut down trees daily for use as firewood and charcoal for cooking but this might soon become a history according to some residents.
As a result of the campaign to protect the environment, 75 percent of households in the area are using energy saving stoves, according to figures obtained from the district environment office.
After feeling the impact of the climate change, most households have now resorted to the use of single shielded, double shielded and rocket Lorena, which were recently introduced by volunteer efforts for development concerns (VEDCO), a local non-governmental organization. Each stove costs between 5,000 and 10,000 shillings depending on the type and size.
The introduction of the three types of energy saving stoves has greatly reduced the number of trees that were being cut down for fire wood, prompting some farmers to form groups to plant wood lots in their communities so as to ensure protection of the environment for future use.
The chairperson of Amama women group in Metu sub-county, Rose Dralaze says her group has planted six acres of woodlot. She says they are planting more trees especially on the top of the mountain to restore the lost forest cover, which they plan to use later cautiously.
Another resident of Moyo town council who uses the double shielded stove, Dominika Bunia, says the stove requires less fuel; it saves a lot of time and also reduces pollution in the kitchen.
According to her, she cooks a kilogram of beans using three pieces of wood, which measures one meter each in diameter and ten centimeters. This she says has helped her to save money to buy charcoal and firewood each time expensively.
VEDCO program manager for West Nile region, Peter Egesa, says the two-year project, which ended early last year has seen 24,612 stoves made across the district and over 40 rural energy saving stove promoters have been trained in all the parishes.
Moyo is facing degradation induced by human faults as well as natural processes.
But there is poor attitude within the community on the use and maintenance of the technology, high dependence syndrome since most households want the stoves to be constructed for free.
