95% of women in rural communities in the Niger Delta use wood for the production of the key staple diet of cassava flour “Garri”, and preservation of fish via smoking. Research shows that wood consumption being the primary source of cooking fuel in rural communities, has adverse effects on human health and the environment, as reflected by deforestation and loss of much-needed biodiversity, ecosystem simplification and climate change. Since women are primary producers of food in rural communities, they are mainly at risk of respiratory diseases stemming from incomplete combustion of wood due to inefficient stoves and food processing methods. In addition, the continuous unsustainable deforestation of existing biodiversity for wood fuel is environmentally unfriendly due to amount of carbon emitted into the environment.
In collaboration with project partners, the project trained rural women from communities at risk of climate change induced impacts. They were trained to make clay based clean cookstoves using traditionally accessible biomass materials that are readily available in rural communities. The trainings covered the three focus states of Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom. The training of rural women to incorporate traditional methods and entrench locally led climate adaptation that will consequently provide a sustainable pathway for the wide spread conservation and protection of the environment.