Earning from environment conservation
Construction, sale, and use of Energy efficient stoves have not only been climate change mitigation approaches but also a Livelihood improvement technique in Northern Uganda.
Simon Peter Olanya, a vibrant 24-year-old local stove artisan, is one testimony who has benefitted from the initiative.
From his craftmanship, the resident of Anyika Village, in Kitgum district, says he earns more money compared to the time when he was dependent on income from farming and doing casual work to fend for his family.
Then, he earned an average income of Uganda Shs75,000 (seventy-five Thousand only) per month to cater for his wife and two biological children.
“Being an orphan and an elder in the family, I had to provide basic needs to the entire family with this little earning," says the son of Late Julio Ogote and Ariang Alice
Break through
ver, Olanya’s luck happened in 2016 during one of the sensitization meetings where he was selected by The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Uganda program, under the Teko Wa Project funded by the European Union and the Church of Sweden to participate in a training on construction of energy-efficient cookstove.
Olanya immediately appreciated the call by the project to become the Local Stove Artisan and registered with the project staff before he was invited to participate in 5-days residential training on construction of energy-saving stoves and basic skills in marketing.
The project afterward supported Olanya with a start-up kit including a set of moulds and receipt books for record-keeping.
On return, Olanya started the construction of fire shielded stoves where he constructs and sells at least 15 of them in a month to earn Shs150,000 and continues to expand the business by constructing more stove models such as factory-made stoves for households and restaurants.
At the moment, Olanya boasts of signing mega contracts with both government and Non-Government projects such as Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), Northern Uganda Resilient Initiative (NURI) and other Private Business entities for stove construction and training of Village Savings and Loans Associations.
He was also contracted by NUSAF to train 40 groups of people in the construction of energy-efficient stove, and each group he trains earns him Uganda shillings One hundred thousand (100,00/=) only totaling to Four Million (4,000,000/=).
“A day does not go minus me receiving a call to construct stoves meaning I’m assured of Uganda shillings 10, 000 daily even without a contract, “he says, noting that: “My future is bright”.
’’ I can now afford to take care of my family including my siblings with ease. From the money earned, I have opened up a poultry farm and bought ten goats, which is purely managed by my wife as I construct stoves,” he says.
His long-term plan is to start a factory-made stove store in Kitgum, continue sensitizing the community to conserve the environment as well as argue the youth to use the various skills available to earn a living.
This, he plans to do it through radio talk shows by utilizing the free airtime given to potential farmers and community gatherings.
