In response to the pressing problem of deforestation in Nigeria, in 1997 the Centre for Household Energy and the Environment (CEHEEN), developed an improved version of the traditional ‘egaga’ wood burning stove.
The improved egaga can be made cheaply and easily from scrap metal and uses only half as much wood as the traditional version, thus reducing pressure on the remaining forests. It also helps to cut the production of greenhouse gases. Cooks benefit from the reduction in smoke which means that they suffer less from respiratory and eye diseases.