Stove design competition for women of Pakistan

• This is a call for help to design a better way for cooking in Pakistan

• To avoid enormous health risks of open fires

• And gradual deforestation of a region

• Deadline for submission of designs: 15th August, 2012

• Send to: waseem.solangi@hands.org.pk

The standard cooking stove in Pakistan: 3 stones with the pot on top

Very inefficient: most heat lost out the sides. Every family has to find firewood locally – inevitably deforesting the area.

Also very unhealthy – this lady is constantly bothered by smoke. Evidence

Whatever she does, she is constantly rubbing her eyes and coughing. And this happens every day, in every village, and women bear this burden

It need not be this way. People said they were really keen to try other methods. They said “just show us another design and we will

try it!”

Firey debates about how cooking fuel. In this camp for displaced people they explain how they have to pay a lot for firewood or dried dung. Smokey and seriously inefficient, costly and unhealthy: the worst possible approach, yet

the one used by everyone!

When the trees are gone people use dried animal dung, also smokey. This manure could be put to much better use as fertiliser for growing food or reforestation.

• Must be a design that people can build using local materials

• It shouldn’t be a donated item – but a design / idea so it can be replicated

• It mustn’t cost anything or it won’t take off

• It should reduce fire-smoke completely (smokeless stove?)

• It should use local mud but can also include old metal as tins are available (see photo)

• It must be fuel efficient – maximum heat extracted from fuel used.

Design Criteria

Please send your stoves designs ideas at below email waseem.solangi@hands.org.pk

Thanks