The Katsina State Government has collaborated with the European Union to launch 17 Mud Stove Entrepreneurship Centres in the state.
This development will help to preserve the use of firewood and address the issue of desert encroachment across the affected areas in the state.
The Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy Research at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, Dr. Abdullahi Mati stated this at the commissioning of one out of the centers in Ajiwa village of Batagarawa Local Government area of the state.
Mati while speaking on the socioeconomic and health benefits associated with the mud stove noted that the stoves have been tested with an efficiency of more than 50% which translates to the reduction in firewood consumption.
The improved mud stoves model is designed specifically to assist urban and rural communities in household cooking.
It’s part of the project administered by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning through a grant funding by the European Union and counterpart funding from the Katsina state government.
A survey conducted on the users’ sample across the project areas shows that the stove has wide acceptance in view of the advantage it offers.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department, Ministry Of Budget And National Planning, Mr. Ntia Thompson thanks the European Union for supporting the deforestation effort of the Katsina state government.
He said that the project is in line with the Federal government’s objective of the economic recovery and growth plan in the areas of energy sufficiency.
On his part, the Director Desertification and Draught Control in the Katsina state Ministry of Environment, Mustapha Lawal, informed the gathering that the state government has already approved the production of 34,000 mud stoves to be distributed across the 34 local government areas of the state.
He asked all people in the state to make judicious use of the mud stove.
Out of the 600 traditional potters trained by the project, 400 have been gainfully employed into the newly improved mud stove entrepreneurship centres across the project areas.
