In Malawi, reaching Chanombo Village and Chauma Island in Nkhotakota is obstructed by the Dwangwa river and a 20km stretch of lake Malawi, respectively. But no barrier is too great for United Purpose’s ACCESS project team in fulfilling their commitment to provide cleaner cooking solutions to those who need them most.
Through United Purpose’s Embassy of Ireland-funded ACCESS project (Accelerating Commercial and Community Energy Supply Sustainably), communities across Malawi’s northern districts of Mzimba and Nkhotakota have been given locally manufactured “Chitetezo Mbaula” cookstoves. These cookstoves use less firewood, reducing biomass consumption for cooking by up to 50%.
Nkhotakota is a large and diverse district, containing the clusters of Chauma – an island 20km offshore in lake Malawi – and Chanombo, surrounded by the Lupachi and Dwangwa rivers, both of which can only be accessed by boat during rainy season. In January 2022, United Purpose’s ACCESS team distributed stoves in these two clusters.
Most of these stoves were distributed for free to participants in the Government of Malawi’s Social Cash Transfer programme through village promoters, who receive a commission for each stove redeemed.
Chanombo Village has approximately 500 households (162 are members of the Social Cash Transfer programme), while Chauma has just 80 households (27 are Social Cash Transfer programme members).
United Purpose staff member, Langster Mchekalenso, gives a vivid first-person account of distributing the cookstoves to these two communities:
Chauma Island distribution – across the windy lake
Chauma is one of the small Islands found on Lake Malawi and it is located to the east of Nkotakota district. It is 20km away from the lake shore of Ngala and the only way to reach it is by boat; the journey takes two to three hours depending on the level of wind and waves. Two government officials from Nkhotakota district council accompanied two of us ACCESS field facilitators to make the delivery of 40 stoves to the island (one full boat).
The island hosts just 80 households and a primary school. There is no health clinic on the island; when someone is sick, they must travel by boat to Ngala health clinic. Residents of Chauma depend on small pieces of firewood (stalks) to cook their food, while more substantial fuel has to come from the mainland, so the 50% fuel savings from using cleaner cookstoves are hugely beneficial for the community.
Despite the windy conditions, the 40 stoves were successfully delivered to the house of Mr Phiri – the island’s stove promoter. The 27 stoves allocated to Social Cash Transfer programme members were distributed immediately. Rose Phiri, one of the people who received a stove, said: “Cooking food has now been made easy with the coming of Chitetezo stove”.
Image: Rose Phiri receiving her cookstove
With an additional 13 stoves for sale to the community, half of the households on the island now have access the stoves as a result of the trip.
Chanombo village – braving the Dwangwa river
Chanombo village is in the same area of Malawi as Chauma Island but is located around 20km inland from the lake. Chanombo has a population of 2,300 people (approximately 500 households) and 162 households are members of the Social Cash Transfer Programme.
In order to access the village during rainy season, you have to cross either the Lupachi or Dwangwa rivers by boat (roads are impassable due to river levels) and try to avoid the crocodiles! The stoves were transported across the Dwangwa river and then finally shunted to the promoter’s house (Lewis Chakhaza) by car.
This was the first time for people in the village to receive the clean cookstoves. The Village Headman said: “This is a great day for us in Chanombo, we used cook on three-stone fires, now is our time to start cooking on chitetezo mbaula.”
Members of the Social Cash Transfer programme came to collect their stoves on the same day they were delivered.
Providing cleaner cooking solutions to rural households, particularly in difficult-to-access parts of Malawi, is challenging - but through the determination of United Purpose’s ACCESS project team we continue to honour our commitment to leave no one behind.
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