A new stove wholly designed and manufactured in Malawi is being heralded by its inventors as a weapon in the war against deforestation. At least 50,000 hectares of forest are lost every year in Malawi, mainly due to cutting down trees for charcoal or firewood, writes Raphael Tenthani.

This is bad news not just for the environment, but for the economy as well. Studies indicate that the recent devastating floods that have hit many countries in southern Africa, including Malawi, could be a direct result of deforestation as many river banks are losing trees.

Marko, the creators and manufacturers of Super Blu stove, an ethanol-powered design, is more economical, safer and longer lasting than conventional stoves, and it is hoped that this will lure Malawians away from environmentally invasive alternatives. Gaffar Jakhura, Executive Director and Chairman of Marko has high hopes: “This stove can solve a lot of our environmental problems,” he said.

While a paraffin stove may burn up to 450 degrees Celcius, the Super Blu can reach 800 degrees, which makes for quicker cooking and the ethanol used is specially modified to burn five times longer than other conventional stoves.

As its name suggests the stove burns with a highly visible, blue flame which its designers say is a safety feature over other stoves where flames are less easy to see. A second, more important safety feature is that ethanol produces carbon dioxide when it burns, rather than the deadly carbon monoxide.

“No smell is produced when the hydrogen is released,” says Eddie McFadden, Marko’s Technical Director. “You can keep the stove inside the house with windows closed without risking choking to death.” In Malawi, most households depend on charcoal for cooking. In the cold months of May, June and July cases of asphyxiation are not uncommon when they keep a stove burning overnight .

McFadden believes it is the exceptional economy of Super Blu that will make the difference. “It can basically turn around the deforestation issues because it costs approximately 2.5 Malawi Kwacha an hour (just over 1p) to cook on this stove while it is costing around MK18 (10p) an hour with charcoal and MK15 (8p) an hour with paraffin. So the economic advantages are enormous.”

Almost all raw materials used to build the stove are locally sourced and a number of jobs will be created when the company starts mass producing the stove, says Marko boss Gaffar Jakhura.