Own Construction Stoves

We usually find stoves in schools that have been built without any prior knowledge of how an improved combustion chamber should be constructed. Schools often end up purchasing stoves that are inefficient and consume a lot of firewood, because they have been built with no expertise or have not gone through any testing procedure to see if dimensions and materials can actually help the schools reduce their purchases of firewood.

These are what we call “own construction stoves”, and we are today replacing at St. Paul’s Primary School Banda in Kyambogo with the Ugastove institutional improved cook stoves. The “own construction stoves” are a typical cheap stove construction model made with mud, bricks and cement, that schools usually go for when moving away from the traditional 3-stone fires.

Unfortunately, these constructions end up consuming the same amount as before, so the school sees no benefits and the cooks continue to inhale a lot of CO and particulate matter which are very detrimental to their health.

Integrity and Transparency

We are seeing a lot of reports, webinars and activities around where the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) should head towards after the Paris 2020 agreement came to an end. The concerns come from the public in general, and the demand side, that are asking for sound principles for best-practice in the carbon markets.

One of the conduits to ensure such integrity and transparency are achieved, is the use of digital tools for the verification process of green house gas (GHG) emissions. Although the degree of digitalisation of the verification currently available for project developers right now is very basic and low, here at Simoshi we are proud to tell you about our Kenga IT infrastructure.

This specially designed tool, funded by the United Nations Capital Development Fund, has allowed our team to collect accurate data directly from the field, that is captured through the use of mobile phones. All the information captured - indicators that are continuously monitored and quantified by the Gold Standard and the Clean Development Mechanism to ensure all 9 Sustainable Goals are achieved - is directly sent on real time to our head office, where data is cross-checked at several levels, reconciled, and reported for verification purposes.

As we await for certification bodies to come up with integrated systems for digitalised quantification and verification processes, that ultimately are partly shifted to independent verification entities, we are thriving to produce accurate reports that are a real representation of Simoshi’s integrity and transparency when implementing the Project Activity.

Clean Kitchen Environment

A clean school kitchen not only helps to reduce the children’s risks of exposure to many pollutants such as bacteria and allergens like dust mites. A clean kitchen is also less inviting to mice, rats, and other pests. Bacteria or germs are everywhere – including the kitchen, where food is stored, prepared, and eaten.

This is why we have included a hygiene indicator when monitoring the institutional improved cook stoves (IICS). Because firewood reductions are one of the many goals we follow up to achieve as part of our Project Activity.

The behavioural change we implement in the kitchen when continuously training the school cooks is also about cleaning the IICS, removing the ash and storing the firewood outside in a dry place, to ensure there is no place for mice and other insects to hide. So everyone (children and staff) can enjoy a healthy meal.

Term III Starts Today

The last school term for Ugandan schools has resumed today. Until Friday 9th of December, school kitchens will be busy preparing the children’s daily meals. It is amazing how we are celebrating such a recurrent simple event like a school opening its doors. We have come a long way after the pandemic, when all started back in March 2020 and schools closed for almost two full calendar years.

This is why we are overjoyed to see operations back to normal, since Term I commenced back in January this year. We will keep you posted as we continue to monitor the 92 schools currently participating under the Project Activity “Institutional Improved Cook Stoves for Schools and Institutions in Uganda”.

Annual Efficiency Testing

For the past three weeks we have been busy testing a cohort of twelve institutional improved cook stoves (IICS) of 30 litres capacity, that have been in operation in different schools in Kampala since 2016. This exercise is part of our carbon financing obligations with the Gold Standard, and we perform the international Water Boiling Test protocol to ensure the thermal efficiency of the IICS is above 20%.

We are pleased to confirm, as these tests results have shown for the past six years, that the thermal efficiency is above 27%, which ensures all 92 participating schools are saving at least 60% of the firewood consumed for preparing their school meals, when compared to their past 3-stone fires.

We have performed all tests during the month of August, as schools were closed for holidays, to ensure we do not disrupt their cooking activities.

Five More Years Of Success

Yesterday we received the good news that our Project Activity “Institutional Improved Cook Stoves for Schools and Institutions in Uganda” registered with the Gold Standard, had its renewal of the monitoring period approved. This means, our intervention with schools through the installation of energy efficient cook stoves, and the subsequent reductions of firewood generating carbon credits, will be extended for five more years until March 2027.

Today, almost 100 schools are benefitting from the income generated from the sale of the carbon credits, as their institutional improved cook stoves are repaired every year, since 2016, free of cost. We cannot wait to replicate this successful model to another 200 schools, so many of the positive outcomes generated from such activities are expanded over the next crediting period. Proof of such positive impact are the nine Sustainable Development Goals monitored, verified, reported and achieved!

Stove Maintenance Full On

As schools go into holidays for the next three weeks, we are busy bees providing free maintenance to all institutional improved cook stoves (IICS). Some of our participating schools have been operating their IICS since 2016, so we are always proud to write this blog post and share the news.

The same excitement is also received from the cooks and school staff, who are always grateful for the annual service they receive. It is very rare to find a company providing free maintenance for 10 years, and we always amaze our audience when we explain that these are the benefits shared with schools from the sale of carbon credits, as voluntary buyers offset their carbon footprint around the globe!

Term II Ends

As we get started with the month of August, this week schools are already sending children home, although the official closing date for term II is Friday 12th of August. Girls are busy washing their clothes. This is also the time when schools organise repairs and/or any construction activity to take place during the holidays, because term III will only get started by mid September.

That is why today we visited St. Joseph’s Girls Primary School, that has decided to get rid of their old and inefficient stoves. As we visited the kitchen to take measure of their current saucepans, and make an assessment of their kitchen environment, we once again experienced the despair of school management struggling to purchase the firewood needed to prepare the daily meals.

This is a school with 350 boarding girls, that currently spends 3,500,000 Ugandan Shillings on firewood per term. By the end of this month, we will be delivering their four new institutional improved cook stoves, and cannot wait to collect the information for the firewood expenditure for term III, as we are positive this will not be above the ugx 1,500,000.

Sundays' Activity In A Boarding School

Boarding schools are always busy on Sundays, and kitchens are no exceptions. It is usually the day where special meals are prepared, and this includes the preparation of traditional dishes such as rice and goat meat, or matooke (banana mash) and gnuts (peanut sauce). The beans in tomato sauce can never miss though!

Below are some pictures of a visit we did today to Citizens day and boarding primary school, a school that joined our programme since 2017.

More Improved Cook Stoves To An Improved Kitchen

Our clients love their institutional improved cook stoves (IICS). Prove of such statement is the delivery of additional IICS to an already improved kitchen at Uganda Martyrs Primary Schools. Today Sunday we added 2 new IICS that will be used exclusively to prepare teachers’ food.

This school used to consume 6 trucks of firewood per school term. They have reduced their consumption to 3 trucks now, so they are always grateful, and not only from the bursar’s office, but the cooks celebrated the new addition to their kitchen because their work is also positively impacted. Below are some images of the delivery done today while ladies were busy preparing the fish (tilapia) for the boarders.

Wrapping Up Term II

Term II is soon coming to an end, and we use these last three weeks remaining to monitor the school kitchens, to ensure any maintenance needed for the institutional improved cook stoves is recorded and planned for the holiday period.

It is also an important time for us to collect crucial information that will help us in calculating the amount of emission reductions achieved so far in the year. This includes the number of children enrolled during the school term, the number of staff, and the amount of firewood spent (or trucks of firewood purchased) to prepare the school daily meals.

Here below we share the images from our visit yesterday to Gaba Demonstration Primary School. We also found the teachers busy with children gathering under the mango tree, as they prepare for the parents visit.

Keeping Firewood Dry

Schools using traditional 3-stone fires for all of their cooking activities result in excessive firewood consumption, damaging not only the environment but also the schools’ finances as they struggle to budget for the annual firewood purchases. An average school with 700 day scholars consumes approximately 9 trucks of firewood per year to cater for all of their cooking needs.

The introduction of institutional improved cook stoves (IICS) assures at least 50% of the firewood can be saved when compared to the traditional stoves. Nevertheless, further savings can be achieved if attention to the water content of the firewood used is paid. That is why at Simoshi we train schools and kitchen staff on how best to store their purchased firewood.

There are many species of trees all with different forms based on their varying fiber structures and densities. This means they differ in the ways they can be used and also the amounts of energy they store. Firewood does not always contain the same amount of energy. The main reason for this is the water that is stored inside it:

• Fresh wood contains up to 50% of water, and water does not burn.

• When firewood is dried for one year, its calorific value doubles, having the water content decrease from 50% up to 15%

This kitchen at Mengo Primary School is lacking space to store the firewood outside, and while funds are being saved to build a firewood shelter outside, the firewood pieces are stored inside the kitchen in the meantime, right beside the IICS, to ensure the best combustion and maximum savings are achieved.

The Renewable Energy Challenge Fund Project

This week we let go hands to our amazing donors and supporters - the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda and the United Nations Capital Development Fund - as the Renewable Energy Challenge Fund (RECF) comes to an end. With the goal to increase access to renewable, efficient energy for domestic, productive and social uses among underserved poor households, especially in rural areas achieved, Simoshi is forever grateful for the USD 100,000 grant received that today comes to an end.

We have made our Project Activity “Institutional Improved Cook Stoves for Schools and Institutions in Uganda” a success, have gone through the difficult Covid-19 times when schools closed for almost 2 years, and are today financially independent, preparing for our fourth verification exercise - all thanks to RECF: back in 2017 they believed in our business model, and we couldn’t have made them more proud as we had exceeded all initial milestones!

Below we share some moments of the closing event that took place last Wednesday at the Protea Hotel in Kololo. It was inspiring to hear the stories of many other supported projects that had the same positive experiences, just like ours. Thumbs up to donors that truly appreciate and celebrate the successes achieved.

Holistic Kitchen Approach

Simoshi does not manufacture the institutional improved cook stoves (IICS). We are a service provider, that uses carbon finance to ensure the schools can smoothly move away from using traditional 3-stone fires to stoves that save at least 50% of the firewood. This means it is not only about the efficiency of the IICS, but also about the kitchen approach and how we include the cooks and everyone ese involved in the IICS use, and that includes training the schools on how best to use and take care of their IICS, the kitchen infrastructure that has appropriate ventilation, is secure, and easy to clean, the firewood purchase rotation and how it is stored in a dry place to ensure the minimum amount of moisture content for combustion and smoke reduction

Last week we visited Jojo Junior School, and we are looking forward to bringing that kitchen transformation as the school moves up the energy ladder. Stay tuned as we will be sharing the kitchen transformation and what we post today will be something that can only continuously improve as newer technologies come into the market.

Testimonies from the Users on Speed

We are always pleased to hear from the cooks on their personal experiences when using the institutional improved cook stoves (IICS). They wake up very early in the morning and start preparing the breakfast for the school children, followed by lunch which is usually served by 1pm sharp.

This is why, between many other benefits these IICS deliver, it is utterly important they cook faster, when compared to the traditional 3-stone fires previously used. Listen how speed makes a huge impact in the cooks livelihoods, as they can enjoy free time before children start queueing for their food.

From the Field With Our Guest Abby

Hello everyone, My name is Abigail Afewerk and I am a guest writer on the blog today and a student attending the International School of Uganda (ISU). Throughout the past few days I have had the pleasure of shadowing Virginia Echavarria, the managing director here at Simoshi Limited as part of my work experience program for school.

During my time with Simoshi, I have had the pleasure of visiting a few of the schools currently under Simoshi’s “Institutional Improved Cook Stoves for Schools and Institutions in Uganda'' program, as well as some schools not under the program. I have witnessed the difference between the use of traditional three-stone fires and the improved cookstoves in local schools firsthand. After observing how Simoshi interacts with the schools I have come to realize that not only does Simoshi cares about the benefits their stoves reap on the environment and planet as a whole. They also care deeply about their clients and the cooks who usually have to spend hours on end in a kitchen filled to the brim with smoke. 

One of the first schools we went to visit was St. Paul Primary School in GGaba. This school is under the program and has 4 improved cookstoves in their kitchen. They had two lovely cooks who were in the process of cooking lunch for the 734 children currently attending the school. They looked perfectly comfortable in the kitchen which was safe and smoke-free thanks to the improved stoves, In fact one of the cooks had her baby girl sleeping in a small room inside the kitchen. The fact that she felt comfortable enough to allow her baby to sleep in the room while cooking speaks volumes about how comfortable she felt.

We were visiting the school to check on the stoves and see if they needed any repairs. I was surprised to learn that Simoshi provided free repairs for all the stoves they installed. I later learned that they are able to do this with the help of carbon credits. They earn one carbon credit per ton of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere because of their stoves, 1 carbon credit is equivalent to 1 ton of carbon dioxide. As previously mentioned, St Paul is a school that cooks for 734 students and generates an average of 100 carbon credits per year from the f carbon dioxide that the school hasn’t released into the atmosphere as a result of their new and improved energy-efficient cookstoves. This school has been under the program since 2016 meaning it has generated 600 carbon credits for Simoshi as of today!

Simoshi sells these carbon credits (currently at a price of 31 dollars per carbon credit) to companies or people who are looking to offset their own carbon footprint or that of their company. They use the profits they make from selling these carbon credits to help manufacture as well as maintain their stoves. This is how they are able to offer free repairs to the schools currently using their stoves. The whole concept is truly fascinating and benefits Simoshi as a company as well as all the schools under their program. 

In contrast to this I also recall visiting a school more recently while shadowing Ms. Echavarria as she oversaw the delivery and installation of some improved stoves in the kitchen of Rines Secondary School. Rines is a boarding school that houses 1136 students. Not only is the student population of this school significantly larger than that of St Paul, it is also a boarding school meaning that they have to provide breakfast and dinner along with lunch for all their students.

When we entered the kitchen to select a suitable position for the stoves I was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of smoke. After only ten minutes in the kitchen, the stinging in my eyes became unbearable and I left the kitchen as a result of all the smoke. Only ten minutes in and it was too much for me, I can only imagine what the cooks have to go through every day. The difference between the kitchens and staff in schools under the program compared to those that aren’t is truly exceptional. 

My time here at Simoshi has been an eye-opening experience that has really put so much into perspective for me. And I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to witness Simoshi’s work firsthand.

Headteachers' Association Meeting

Today Simoshi had the pleasure to make a presentation about its Project Activity “Institutional Improved Cook Stoves for Schools and Institutions in Uganda” during the annual meeting run by the Makindye Ssabagabo Municipal Schools Headteachers’ Association. Its Chairperson and Headmistress at St. Dominic Kigo Lunya Primary School, Ms. Rose Nakato, invited our Managing Director Ms. Virginia Echavarria to introduce the project to all participants. Rose knows first hand the benefits her kitchen has gained since joining the programme back in 2019, so wanted to make sure her colleagues are also aware.

We are grateful for the opportunity and share some pictures of the event, that took place at another participating school, Gangu Muslim Primary School.

Join Our Founder at Innovate4Climate

Innovate4Climate is an annual global conference on climate finance, climate markets and climate investments hosted by the World Bank Group and will be taking place virtually. Join the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance and our founder and Managing Director Virginia Echavarria on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 12:40-13:30 EDT /7:40 EAT.

 The session: “Article 6 of the Paris Agreement in Africa: How can the private sector participate?”

 With the recent finalisation of the Article 6 rule book, opportunities have arisen for the private sector to continue to meaningfully participate in a new generation of carbon markets while contributing to the implementation of different countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). With the limited public finances available for climate change mitigation, the private sector has been credited for their improved engagement in climate change mitigation actions. Private actors have and are contributing much-needed to the finance flows for various carbon market projects and facilitated technology development and transfer. Private sector have also played significant roles in enabling infrastructural development that have all contributed positively to mitigating climate change. This event will raise awareness on the key aspects of the Article 6 decisions relevant to private sector participation, share experiences and lessons from project developers and explore how financial institutions are supporting carbon market activities. 

Prevent Burns

My favourite school sign post, at the kitchen of Mirembe Primary School. We have been writing about the benefits institutional improved cook stoves provide, in improved health and time savings for cooks, in preservation of forests and associated ecosystem services, and in reducing emissions that contribute to global climate change. Nevertheless, we often forget to mention what this sign posts reads, because they significantly reduce the dangers of burns and scalds, by providing an insulated combustion chamber around and above the fire, which leads to a safer environment for children at school.

Term II Kicks-Off

Term II officially starts today and schools will be very busy until the 19th of August, when the term comes to an end. We always celebrate the return of children to the classroom, and can only wish for a smooth term without disruptions.

As usual, new schools always join our Project Activity. When it is not a new school moving away from traditional 3-stone fires for their cooking activities, it is a participating school purchasing an additional institutional improved cook stove for their kitchen. Below, a picture from St. Joseph’s Girls Primary School, soon moving into a new energy efficient kitchen environment.