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Foyer Amelioré

What

Foyer Amelioré literally means ' the improved fire place '. It is an innovation of cooking that can save a lot of firewood.

Whom

This project is aimed for women; they are the ones in Burkina Faso who prepare the food daily.

Where

The countryside of Burkina Faso, in all villages supported by the ASAP foundation.

Why

In rural Burkina Faso the cooking is traditionally on an open fire. This means that everyday 10 kilos firewood per household is needed. Per year consumes a family so about 6 trees. In the by ASAP supported villages live approximately 1,200 families: together they consume annually approximately 7200 trees. There is a scarcity of wood and by illegal logging deforestation arises. At each rainy season large-scale soil erosion occurs.

The burning of so much wood is not only bad for the environment, it also has a negative effect on the health of the population: cooking on an open fire brings a lot of smoke along with it. In addition, it is often the children who are charged with the gleaning of enough firewood, which goes off of the time they could spend at school.

To improve this situation the ASAP foundation introduced in 2009 a simple yet effective solution: the Foyer Amelioré. This is one of natural materials manufactured ' oven ', in which the wood concentrated and hedged burns. This saves up to 50% firewood! Also delivers this oven less smoke and the mothers and children are relieved in the gleaning of the firewood. The children have more time and opportunities for school.

How

In 2009 the ASAP foundation provided training for women in all the ASAP villages. In this training they learned how to build and to use their own Foyer Amelioré.

The Foyer Amelioré is made of Earth, manure and hay. The base consists of 3 stones, which a pan can be placed. The stones are a thick mantle of clay sculpted. In the mantle is an opening created for the wood. The Foyer Amelioré must dry one day in the sun to harden. In the use of the Foyer Amelioré the loss of heat is low, while there still oxygen supply takes place. For each different pan a Foyer Amelioré is tailor-made. Women who have gotten exercise, teach other women in their village how to make a Foyer Amelioré.

Evaluation

The local organization of ASAP observes and reports how the trained women use their Foyer Amelioré and whether they continue to use their knowledge to other women in the village.