In Salima District, along the shores of Lake Malawi, Tiyamike Filimoni, 32, used to endure blistering walks to fetch firewood for her family.
After the long travels together with her neighbours in Kamtchenembwe Village, Traditional Authority Kalonga, the tired woman returned home to cook for her family in a mud-plastered kitchen.
The experience often left her eyes bloodshot, itchy and teary.
“I endure untold misery while doing an everyday task—cooking for my family,” she says. “My eyes were red and I was coughing as if I smoke, but I don’t.”
Filimoni, like many women in Malawi, used to rise early leaving her husband fast asleep to fetch firewood.
“My marriage was on the rocks because he suspected that I had an extramarital affair,” she recounts. “Not even a bulky bundle on my head could save me from this suspicion.”
Last year, Filimoni learned about the health and environmental benefits of Chitetezo Mbaula from Mgwirizano Club, who protect and restore the environment. She bought a subsidised solar-powered cookstove at K15 000 and says it has more than halved the firewood once consumed by open fires when cooking meals for her family.
“The solar-powered stove has transformed my life and cooking experience,” she says. “It’s clean and smoke-free. It cooks fast. It does not require a lot of firewood and can cook using sticks and crop residues.”
The simple stove has left her with tears of joy.
Village Development Committee chairperson Blessings Kasambwi sensitises his community to the benefits of switching to clean and sustainable energy.
“As a club, we started with planting tree nurseries using our meagre resources to replenish the lost trees,” he says. “The stove has reduced the raids on our vanishing forests.”
Mgwirizano Club secretary Milika James says the group used to plant tree seedlings in plastic papers collected from neighbouring markets in a push to make Malawi greener and cleaner.
Now they distribute energy-saving stoves so that women like Filimoni can cook with relief and peace of mind.
The initiative is backed by Oxfam in Malawi together with Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy and Civil Society Network on Climate Change (Cisonecc).
The Promoting Equitable Access to Clean Energy (Peace) is funded by the European Union (EU) to reduce the burden on forests in the country where less than 15 percent of the population have access to the national electricity grid.
According to the 2018 census, over 95 percent cook using firewood and charcoal, exerting immense pressure on forests.
Village resources management committee chairperson Aweza Sinsamala opted for a gas stove.
“The gas stove saves time and it is favourable for me as I cannot afford electricity. I now cook without sweating or inhaling smoke for hours,” she says.
Sinsamala says the clean stoves are saving in the community and surrounding forests.
However, she wishes she could refill the gas close to her home.
“When the stove runs out of gas, I’ve to make a costly trip to Salima Town for a refill,” laments Sinsamala.
Salima district environmental officer Harry Wiziley says increasing access to clean cooking technologies is reducing concerns about deforestation and indoor air pollution.
“As many people switch to clean energy, the demand for the necessary resources such as gas refill stations in the district is rising,” he says.
Filimoni says she and her children are healthier—and her neighbours are switching to clean energy, taking their hands off the waning forests.
Cisonecc national coordinator Julius Ng’oma says the country needs a holistic approach to addressing energy poverty in the country and this includes providing sustainable alternatives to firewood and charcoal.
“We need to implement clean energy policies for people to transition from traditional energy sources into renewable, sustainable solutions such as solar power, liquefied petroleum gas, biogas and Chitetezo Mbaula”, he says.
He says clean cooking and sustainable energy do not only protect forests and human health, but also reduce carbon emissions that fuel climate change.
“We need more projects like Peace which has changed the mindset of many people to welcome the idea of clean cooking and renewable energy,” he says.
The project’s scope includes empowering communities in Salima, Blantyre and, Lilongwe to plant trees, adopt clean energy materials technologies and conserve the environment.
