Improved cooking can save lives in rural Uganda

With her new Rocket Lorena cookstove, Noelina now cooks faster, uses significantly less firewood, and no longer suffers from the smoke that once filled her kitchen when she cooked on a traditional three-stone stove.

Noelina is a resident of Kyakataba Village in Kitoba Sub-county, Hoima District. She first learned about the Rocket Lorena cookstove from her neighbours who had attended a three-day Rocket Lorena cookstove construction training organized by Soil Health and Climate Action Network (SHCAN) with support from the International Development Innovation Network (IDIN) at SHCAN's Bujwahya office.

Inspired by what she learned from them, Noelina joined other women at Rutgard's home where they were constructing Rocket Lorena cookstoves. She quickly developed an interest in the technology and encouraged fellow community members to support one another in constructing cookstoves for every household. She also mobilized women who had not attended the training to participate in the construction activities so they could learn the skills and build similar stoves in their own homes.

"With the three-stone stove, my kitchen was always filled with smoke. My eyes would become teary, my chest would feel uncomfortable, and I used a lot of firewood—sometimes a whole bundle in a single day. Cooking took longer, and the food often smelled of smoke," Noelina explains.

Cooking was once a stressful, tiring, and costly daily task for Noelina. However, after adopting the Rocket Lorena cookstove, her experience has completely changed. Today, she uses only two sticks of firewood to prepare meals for her family, saving both time and money while improving her health.

Another benefit she appreciates is that the stove is easy to keep burning. Since lighting it for the first time, the stove has continuously retained hot charcoal, making it easy to relight using only a few pieces of firewood. This has reduced the effort required to start a cooking fire each day.

Noelina adds that firewood has become increasingly scarce in her community. Because the Rocket Lorena cookstove consumes much less firewood, she no longer spends excessive time searching for fuel before preparing meals.

Her experience demonstrates the positive impact of the Rocket Lorena cookstove in promoting efficient, healthier, and environmentally sustainable cooking practices within the community. Through reduced fuel consumption, lower smoke emissions, and improved cooking efficiency, the stove is helping families like Noelina's improve their quality of life while conserving natural resources.