Case Study: Appropriate Technology

UPESI STOVE – An example of appropriate technology

• Kenya is a country in East Africa with 29.4 million inhabitants and an area of 580.4 thousand square miles
•  Just 3% of people living in Kenya have access to the national electricity grid
• Without electricity, most of the population cooks using a three-stone fire that burns wood
• Kenyan women can spend up to 5 hours a day collecting wood for their fire
• The Sustainable Technology Education Project (STEP) has introduced the UPESI or ‘quick’ stove in Kenya
•  It is an example of appropriate technology (suitable, effective and small scale)
• Local women make the stove from clay earning money and becoming more independent
• Use of firewood is cut by 50% reducing pollution
• The resources needed are available locally
• The extra time available to women means they can spend more time with their children, become educated or earn extra money for their family by working