Clean cookstoves are trending all throughout Africa, but in Kenya an improved stove is helping users cut costs with the help of maize. The Cookswell Jikos progressive mini-charcoal kilns at the Kimana Woodfuel Security Center allow users to use twigs, branches, or even maize cobs.
Corn cobs help combat deforestation that results from chopping down trees for timber and charcoal. On the company’s blog, Cookswell Jikos said, “We encourage you to invest in tree planting, save money, save energy, and eat well!” The group also details four reasons to use dry maize cobs: minimal processing is required and are also widely available as a farm waste product; it is easy to make and leaves few charcoal fines, requiring little to no need for expensive briquetting; easy to light while producing high temperatures with little ash; and using corn cobs as charcoal means that there is no reliance on timber, LPG gas, or other expensive feedstocks.
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