Firewood Alternatives Project Protects Forests and Women's Health

Across much of Northern Ghana, women and girls spend hours gathering firewood for cooking, contributing to deforestation and exposing themselves to harmful indoor smoke. META Foundation's Firewood Alternatives Project tackles both problems by introducing fuel-efficient improved cookstoves and training women's groups to produce charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste.

Over the past six months, the project has distributed 250 improved cookstoves to households in 10 communities and trained 80 women in briquette production using groundnut shells, rice husks, and sawdust. Early monitoring data indicates that participating households have reduced firewood consumption by roughly half, and women report noticeably less eye irritation and respiratory discomfort.

The environmental benefits are equally significant. Community forestry volunteers estimate that each improved cookstove saves approximately two trees per year. Coupled with tree-planting activities that META Foundation runs alongside the project, the programme is creating a tangible buffer against land degradation in an already fragile savannah landscape. Plans are underway to link briquette producers with institutional buyers such as schools and hospitals.