Darfur Stoves
Fuel Efficient Stoves for Darfur Refugees
Since 2003, the civil conflict in Darfur has led to an estimated 400,000 deaths and more than 2.2 million internally displaced people. The crowded refugee camps have depleted the vegetation in the surrounding desert regions in the desperate search for fuel. Refugees receive nominal daily food rations from the UN WFP but no fuel with which to cook the food. Women are forced to leave the safety of the camps to search in the surrounding desert for rapidly dwindling fuel wood supplies. With the rapidly increasing denuding of land around each refugee camp, the average trek to search for fuel wood increased from 3 hours in 2004 to 7 hours in 2005. Northern Darfur has been particularly hard hit. Every trek outside of the camps leaves women at risk of rape and mutilation from the Janjaweed. In addition to the obvious safety issues, there are also health and nutrition issues as a majority of refugees report missing at least one meal a week due to lack of fuel wood to cook their food.
Christina Galitsky, Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, works on the 1st generation prototype of the Berkeley-Darfur Stove (2007).UC Berkeley researchers working with the Blum Center are focusing on the development and distribution of the Berkeley-Darfur Stove (BDS) in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Berkeley Darfur Stove is four time more efficient than traditional 3-stones fires and two times more efficient than clay stoves. It has the advantage of being able to be assembled in Darfur, creating economic benefit in the region. Other advantages include its durability in the harsh climate, its relatively low cost (the World Food Programme is currently disseminating a similar stove from Germany that costs approximately $80 vs. $40 for the BDS) and its new flat pack design which allows stove kits to be more easily transported. The humanitarian benefits include less time outside of the camps collecting fuel wood, reducing the risk of exposure to rape, and fully enclosed flames which reduce the danger of the dense straw and stick shelters from burning down.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Ashok Gadgil, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Energy & Resources Group
Field Location: Darfur Region, Sudan
Partners: The Rosenfeld Fund For Global Sustainable Development; Engineers Without Borders; GreaterGood.org; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Darfur Stoves Project Website
Producer’s Notes: Darfur Stoves Project KQED Television, May 20, 2008
“The first stove distribution in the Darfur refugee camps went smoothly. I visited Fatma a few days later in her family’s shelter, where she cooked three hot meals daily for her husband and five children… Fatma had rapidly reduced her firewood use by two-thirds, which saved her lots of money. She planned to use her daily savings to improve her family’s shelter, buy clothing for her children, and add fresh fruit and meat to their meals. Fatma confided that she moved the stove into her sleeping area at night so she wouldn’t lose it.”
— Michael Helms, Visiting International Professional, Darfur Stoves Project
