Ending Mafuwa - durability is the key factor in transforming cooking practice in Malawi.

In 2013 the Government of Malawi announced a cookstove strategy to see 2 million households change their cooking practice by 2020 from mafuwa (see photo - the three stone method) to an improved cookstove. The strategy was based on a portable cookstove and had some advantages - it was cheap. It also had a flaw - it was fragile. The Ministry of Energy’s latest research shows that in 2022 only 1% of rural households have an improved portable cookstove. The research also showed that 10% of rural households have an improved fixed stove.

Mbedza adopted a different strategy which was to provide the most durable stove available, a fixed stove - the Esperanza. In 2023 we carried out surveys to find out how durable our Esperanzas were and our teams went back to the very first villages where we built them in 2013/14. The Esperanzas remain strong and we even found villages where last year’s cyclone had destroyed kitchens but the Esperanza remains undamaged.

In 2024 we remain committed to our fixed stove programme providing households with a permanent and durable solution to their cooking challenges. The Esperanza is durable with a life expectancy of more than 10 years. The design encloses the fire in a far more fuel efficient process that requires only small sticks. The stove is safe to touch remaining cool from the insulating effect of the cement and burn injuries become a thing of the past.

A special thank you to our supporters who helped us raise £10,000 in December 2023 through the Christmas Big Give Campaign. We need to replace our ring machine and once that has been manufactured we expect to resume stove building in March 2024.