A study done by UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago found Jikokoa by BURN Manufacturing to be the most efficient in energy conservation and savings on costs.
According to the study, Jikokoa reduces charcoal spending by 2.28 dollars per week on average. This is about 250 shillings.
The study found the stoves to have a decrease of 50 log points, which corresponds to a 39 percent decrease in charcoal consumption.
In saving 2.28 dollars per week, averagely 119 dollars per year, more than a one-month income of an average Kenyan, Jikokoa helps families channel the funds to other urgent needs such as medical expenses and food.
“More than 60% of respondents report using the savings for critical household expenditures such as food items and child school fees. This means governments looking to reduce poverty by increasing household adoption of profitable technologies may find that addressing market failures in the credit sector can provide tangible opportunities for welfare gains for poor households.”
On average, BURN has managed to help customers save more than 197 million dollars on fuel since 2013.
The Jikokoa brand maker says the company has also managed to save more than 3.5 million tons of wood as well as helping reduce 6.2 million tons of harmful carbon dioxide emissions and benefited at least 4.3 million people.
“The most significant benefits from two years of ownership consist of avoided environmental damages in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (USD 229), financial savings (USD 214), 82-time savings (USD 256), and improvements in health outcomes,” said the study.
In recent years, Kenya’s forests have been depleted at an alarming rate of about 5,000 hectares per annum.
This is estimated to lead to an annual reduction in water availability of approximately 62 million cubic meters, translating to an economic loss to the economy of over USD 19 million.
One way to conserve forests, promote healthy living, and cut down on respiratory diseases is to encourage Kenyans to embrace the use of energy-saving jikos. Energy-saving jikos not only preserve the environment but also reduce costs.
“Stove adoption causes significant improvements in self-reported health. Adoption of the stove causes a 0.56 standard deviation improvement in health.”
