Most poor Nicaraguan families cook with firewood. You’ve seen the “three rock” open fires and the blackened walls of their smoke-filled kitchens. Imagine the lungs of the mothers and children that spend much of their time in those kitchens. Consider also that a family of five spends about 20 Cordobas a day to purchase their firewood, or cuts down trees and carries the wood long distances on their backs. Children are often burned by the exposed fires and women spend their days in the hot, smoky kitchens. Around the world, over 2 million women and children die yearly from inhaling the smoke from cooking fires. All told, smoke emitted by cooking fires contributes more to climate change than automobiles do. Over 2,000 Nicaraguan families have found a better way to cook: the Coci-Nica, a highly efficient clay-brick wood-burning stove based on a rocket stove design. Produced in Las Comarcas de La Laguna, near Granada, and made entirely of local materials and with Nicaraguan ownership and labor, the Coci-Nica uses one-third of the firewood, emits very little smoke, cooks much faster, and is protected from the wind and children. It can burn firewood of any size, from large chunks to small twigs and cooks up to 5 gallons of food. It even works with charcoal. The Coci-Nica last for many years and saves the average family about $150 each year. A simple, low-tech, realistic solution to a big problem! This information and the photos are from the Nicaraguan Dispatch.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 00:20:14 +0000
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