February 26, 2011 10:26AM

The Kaduna State government plans to introduce improved firewood stoves to reduce the quantity of firewood used for domestic cooking.

The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Zakariya Shamaki, disclosed this on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.

Mr Zakariya said the move is part of efforts to protect the environment and that the stoves will help to reduce the rate of tree felling in the state. According to him, predictions indicate that global warming will be extreme this year, noting that Kaduna State will not be spared of its effects.

He said that the stoves were constructed for users’ convenience and they will use less firewood for cooking.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5679797-146/kaduna_to_import_improved_firewood_stoves.csp#

Why exactly is firewood the preferred source of fuel for cooking in the north? Why not kerosene or something else?

I guess that the market price of firewood is just lower than that of other energy sources? 

why not?import everything afterall we like it like that.if only electricity is constant electric cooker will do the trick.

by the way whatever happened to HOTPLATE ?

asha 80:

why not?import everything afterall we like it like that.if only electricity is constant electric cooker will do the trick.

Another thing I wonder about. What exactly is the effect of our moribund power supply on desertification in the north? If electricity were 24/7, wouldn't less trees being chopped down and thus the desert be less able to encroach? I dunno, just a thought.

Long story short though, northerners need to stop chopping down trees.

eku_bear:

Another thing I wonder about. What exactly is the effect of our moribund power supply on desertification in the north? If electricity were 24/7, wouldn't less trees being chopped down and thus the desert be less able to encroach? I dunno, just a thought.

Long story short though, northerners need to stop chopping down trees.

it is a nationwide thing.it is just that the effect on the north(desert encroachment) is higher.the east also suffers from an effect(erosion)

Energy effiecient stoves are fabricated in nearby Jigawa, so I don't see why there is a need to import anything; except the Jigawa stoves don't work.

asha 80:


it is a nationwide thing.it is just that the effect on the north(desert encroachment) is higher.the east also suffers from an effect(erosion)

We do it a lot in my village too. But as you say, the penalties in the north and SE for doing this are higher. Maybe it doesn't hurt us in the SW due to lower pop density? I'm not sure.

eku_bear:

We do it a lot in my village too. But as you say, the penalties in the north and SE for doing this are higher. Maybe it doesn't hurt us in the SW due to lower pop density? I'm not sure.

it has nothing to do with population density in the east.the soil there is quite porous or should i say poor in some cases (especially anambra and imo axis)

in the east it is either a land should used for farming,built(planned properly for drainage) or allow trees.no land should be left fallow without some ort of vegetation otherwise erosion will surface.

you need to see the soil texture there to know what it is like.

Just another way of sipponing money. In my dept at university there are tons of well resarched alternative energy source technology, to be precisely i can remember vividly a project with the capicity of reducing fire wood consumption by 75%. why not invest the money in promoting local technology and creating jobs??
If the locally manufacture one's are not efficient, get one sample, applied reverse engineering.

Sample->Reversed Engineering->Model->Prototype->Mass production(with local labour,material)


This method is applied every where in the world.

asha 80:

it has nothing to do with population density in the east.the soil there is quite porous or should i say poor in some cases (especially anambra and imo axis)

in the east it is either a land should used for farming,built(planned properly for drainage) or allow trees.no land should be left fallow without some ort of vegetation otherwise erosion will surface.

you need to see the soil texture there to know what it is like.

Furthest east I've been in PH, so I'm not very familiar with the issues there. But I somehow had the impression that high pop densities place greater pressure on the land. Anyway, I'm sure you are right.