co2balance joined new partners World Vision on a field trip to Baringo Country in Kenya at the beginning of the week to consult with various stakeholders about the up coming micro-scale cookstove projects. The trip included representatives from World Vision Australia, WV Finland as well as WV Kenya and started with a visit to households currently using different improved cookstoves in the area. This allowed the group to gain a greater understanding of the needs and challenges faced by women when cooking meals for their families; unsurprisingly the amount of smoke produced by different stove types was a common topic.
Left to Right: Timothy (WV Kenya), Lydia (WV Kenya), Annette (WV Finland),
Andrew (WV Australia), Lloyd (co2balance), Dismas (WV Kenya)
The rest of the trip was given over to a consultation session in the grounds of a local school where area leaders, ministers and womens groups were invited to come and discuss the project. One of the hot topics was the savings and loans schemes implemented by the womens groups. The project aims to facilitate access to improved cookstoves but would like to tap into and support existing micro-finance structures. By doing this a market based approach can be developed that would result in organic growth within the project.
As announced in a previous blog post a stakeholder date and venue has been set and we would invite anyone interested to attend.
co2balance 