Energy-saving stove business lifts women’s livelihood

The need to replace traditional cooking methods with efficient renewable energy has seen women in Nakuru engage in fuel saving stoves business.

The women, who are based in various trading centres within the county, say since they started doing the business their lives have transformed in terms of economic empowerment.

With the increasing uptake of technology in the energy sector, a majority of people are now looking for the most reliable form of energy for household use as opposed to wasteful charcoal stoves and which have also contributed to rise in illnesses due to indoor pollution.

Ms Elizabeth Maina, who operates a retail shop at Heshima trading centre in Bahati, invested in the business in 2012 and has been selling the Scode stoves to her friends, customers, institutions and women groups.

“The business highly depends on seasons. During the sunny season when fuel is readily available, especially farm waste, we have few customers but during the rainy seasons, we have more people seeking the stoves,” she says.

Ms Maina says Scode stoves comes in different sizes and quality which determine the price of each.

The stoves referred to as Kenya Ceramic Jikos (KCJ) available at her shop are sold between Sh500and Sh700.

Ms Maina says she sells between 10 and 20 stoves a month and that since the start of the business she has sold more than 200 energy saving jikos.

She says most the customers who have purchased the stove are happy. “The stove is very reliable and uses a little amount of fuel because it saves a lot of energy. Once you start using this stove, you’ll never go back to the traditional ones,” she says.

Ms Maina said apart from expanding her retail shop, the business has also helped her learn a number of skills.

“I’ve learnt a number of business skills that include record keeping, which I never applied before in my business,” she says.

Ms Bilha Wanjiku started the business in 2012 at her retail shop in Subukia.

She started with only 10 stoves, which were two varieties , KCJ 11 and 12, that she sold at Sh350 and Sh500 respectively, earning her a small profit margin.

“At first it wasn’t easy to sell the stoves as they were very new in the market and few people were conversant with them. I had to store them for three months before getting buyers,” she said.

Local women groups and NGOs interested in buying the energy-stoves for women groups approached Ms Wanjiku.

“That’s how I sold out my first batch of stoves. More people eventually came to learn about it,” she said.

Ms Wanjiku later introduced other varieties of the stoves, which include the push-and-pull jiko that is also known as the multi-purpose stove.

The push-and-pull jiko can use various types of fuel such as charcoal, briquettes and wood.

The stove. which weighs around 13 kilogrammes. retails at Sh4,500.

She says residents have come to learn of the advantages of the energy saving stoves and the business now earns her more profit.

“The business is reliable and sustainable because the type of goods are not perishable and don’t give you pressure to sell fast,” she says.

For Violet Mingoso, her business is providing fuel for the energy saving stoves.

She sells noncarbonated briquettes at Kaptembwa-Githima community market.

Ms Mingoso packages them in one, two and five-kilogramme bags, which she sells at Sh100, Sh250 and Sh250 respectively.