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UNDP, GEF plan standards, certification for clean cook stoves

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
02 July 2018   |   4:10 am
Nigeria is could soon join a list of developing countries scheduled to benefit from a global alliance targeted at preventing deaths and cutting greenhouse gas emissions...

Some of the participants at the UNDP-GEF Sustainable Fuelwood Management project, recently

Nigeria is could soon join a list of developing countries scheduled to benefit from a global alliance targeted at preventing deaths and cutting greenhouse gas emissions caused by smoke from traditional cooking stoves through development of a new market for clean and efficient cooking solutions.

Coming under a five-year Global Environment Facility (GEF) project called ‘Sustainable Fuel Wood Management (SFM) in Nigeria’ implemented by the United Nations Development Programme with support from the Federal Ministry of Environment, Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and other stakeholders.

Specifically, a three –day SFM Business Forum for Woodlot deve3lopers, Fuelwood dealers, efficient Wood Stoves Makers, Sellers and Micro Finance Institutions was held recently in Calabar, Cross River organized by UNDP to build capacity of fuelwood value chain actors.

The project Team Leader, Mr. Okon Ekpeyong, an engineer explained the forum is meant to link up supply and demand sides of fuelwood with that of the energy efficient wood stoves and appropriate business/ financial models for rural communities.

He also said that the programme will create opportunities for fuelwood value chain actors to interact among themselves and exchange experiences, develop skills, and share knowledge and ideas on innovative business and financing models.

Dr. Francis Okafor of Energy Research Centre, University of Nigeria, Nsukka said the institution will be harness numerous technology in the country for a made in Nigeria clean cook stove .

He disclosed that two National Clean Cookstoves Development and Testing Laboratory as been established at the University of Nigeria (Nsukka, Enugu State and Afikpo, Ebonyi State with the assistance of International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED).

He told The Guardian that the move will sanitise the domestic industry by providing testing and certification services. He added that the centres have develop technical standards for stoves, provides testing and certification services related to stove technical quality, indoor air pollution, and energy efficiency, as well as support local SMES in improving the quality of their products.

Project will work with current cook stove producers to help improve quality and scale-up production of efficient biomass cook stove products.

This will include assistance to manufacturers to design a very low cost solution for BOP market, including investigating sourcing and production models such as using recycled materials to lower the cost of potential solutions. Further, the potential to establish a special clean cook stove manufacturing zone will be explored (including availability of stable power supply within such zone), business plan prepared and its implementation by interested private sector partners facilitated (including securing required benefits and support from the State or Federal Government).

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Association of Non-Bank Microfinance Institutions of Nigeria (ANMFIN), Daniel Ugbama stated that the project will implement appropriate financial models in order to make clean cooking stoves and other alternative energy solutions affordable to consumers. The project will build on the baseline projects and fill in the key gaps on EE stove financing.

The project will also provide support to local entrepreneurs and youths across key value chain activities, such as business management, manufacturing, distribution and marketing.

Finally, it will support scaling-up of existing programs to other geographical locations, for instance, by helping reduce distribution costs via engagement of local NGOs, community and women organizations.

It also entails implementation of a sustainable community-run forest management system over an area of at least 50,000 ha during a total period of five years, from which fuel wood would be sustainably sources. This activity will be supported by assessment of the availability of dead wood to review the situation and future prospects of the rural subsistence supply of fuel wood.

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