Virunga Mountain Gorilla - Project Overview
In collaboration with the Austrian NGO Likano, RPP distributed the GABANYIBICANWA stove (see our stoves for more infos) which reduces the required amount of firewood by 2/3 due to its energy efficiency (compared to the traditional three-stone-stove which was used before). This allows the users to save money which was formerly used for wood and to spend more time and efforts on their agriculture, their education or other activities. In addition, less wood produces less smoke and therefore less CO2-emmisions which contributes a lot to the mitigation of climate change. The people also suffer less from smoke and any respiratory diseases.
To make sure that every eligible households is able to receive the improved cook stove, the distribution was designed to be as bearable as possible: The end users only had to pay 10% of the price of a stove.
The project area is located directly next to the Virunga National Park in Rwanda where many endangered species are living, among others the Virunga Mountain Gorillas. Their habitat, the forests of the Virunga Volcanoes, are seriously threatened by deforestation since wood is the most popular fuel for cooking in Rwanda. Therefore the GABANYIBICANWA stove helps to save this valuable piece of nature by reducing the demand for firewood.
