Antwerp University distributes 50,000 pressure cookers to combat deforestation in DRC
Over the next three years, researchers from the University of Antwerp will distribute 50,000 electric pressure cookers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The initiative is intended to make households less dependent on wood and thus to combat deforestation. This is an extension of a successful pilot project, clarified the university.
Residents living near the Virunga National Park normally cook with charcoal, which threatens the preservation of local ecosystems. The Institute for Development Policy at the University of Antwerp has therefore already distributed electric pressure cookers to 1,600 households.
“Worldwide, more than two billion people still depend on biomass as fuel for cooking,” explains professor Marijke Verpoorten. “In sub-Saharan Africa, population growth adds 20 million people to that number every year. Most residents of Goma, for example, depend on charcoal for cooking, even though they often have electricity.”
About two-thirds of the charcoal used is produced illegally around the national park. The local population pays a lot of money for the coal because armed groups levy a kind of tax on it. The mountain gorilla's habitat is particularly threatened by the whole situation.
“If we can scale up this project, it could lead to less deforestation and less income for the armed groups,” Verpoorten continues. "Our analyses show that about 25 per cent of meals were prepared with the electric pressure cookers. This reduced charcoal use by 34 per cent. An average household in Goma thus saves almost 6 dollars per month."
Over the next three years, 50,000 additional electric pressure cookers will be distributed in the region. A hydroelectric power plant was recently built, enabling widespread use of the appliances.
Illustration © PHOTO PHIL MOORE / AFP