What makes a perfect stove?

Replacing an traditional 3-rock cook stove with an improved one is more challenging as it seems upon first look. What makes a perfect stove? Mainly three factors: Efficiency, durability and it must be easy to operate. A special design of the new stove leads the flames directly to the cooking pot – the insulation makes sure that the heat is stored for a long time.
David Dufero´s family (picture above, beside his cooking hut) from Kabatwa Sector close to the Volcanoes Nationalpark only needs 1/3 of the firewood now. It is also very important, that the stove works for many years. The dissemination of thousands of stoves only makes sense if the local people have the certainty to use the stove for a long period of time. Nothing is more difficult to get back lost confidence because of low quality stoves.
Countries where people still cook on open fire have different requirements for the stove, that´s because their staples are different. In Ethiopia for example, families eat Injera, a soured flatbread. You need a round metal plate for baking the dough, unlike in Rwanda where maize, beans and rice is cooked in a pot.
The close contact with the local people before and during the project implementation bear fruits – everybody around the National Park loves the new stove. That not only shows up in the reduce firewood consumption but also a look in the happy faces.