At a large factory in Nairobi, Kenya, about 300 Kenyans will soon begin building small, black cookstoves that one islander hopes will alter the face of Africa. “It’s game changing,” said Peter Scott, a Vashon resident and the president of Burn Manufacturing Co.
Estimated 4,000,000 Deaths from Household Cooking Smoke - A Note from Dr. Kirk Smith
For Scott, who returned to the island last week after spending four months in Kenya, the factory’s opening earlier this month was a watershed moment. It means that Kenyans will soon begin mass producing a stove that was designed on Vashon and that will combat what many consider a global crisis — the growing number of deaths and rapid deforestation resulting from the inefficient charcoal-burning cookstoves used in many African homes.
Clean Stoves vs. Clean Fuel
About 2 million people, mostly women and children, die each year from upper respiratory disease due to indoor cooking smoke. What’s more, East Africa is facing an ecological crisis from all that charcoal: It takes seven tons of wood to make one ton of charcoal, leading to rapid deforestation and a lack of sustainability that will create more crises down the road.
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