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Sri Lankan Stoves Past & Present by R M Amerasekera et al.
[top] [end]Sri Lanka[top] [end]IntroductionThe following articles describe the various stove projects now being implemented in Sri Lanka by the Ministry of Power and Energy and its various subsidiaries - National Fuelwood Conservation Programme (NFCP), Central Electricity Board (CEB), Integrated Rural Development Programme (lRDP), Ceylon Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (CISIR) and by the NGO, Sarvodaya.They are being assisted by NORAD (Norwegian Grant), the Netherlands Grant Energy Programme, SIDA (Swedish Grant), ODA (British Grant) and by ITDG (British NGO). The map shows the areas of activity of some of these projects.
Sri Lanka has a well documented history of over 2500 years. There are indications that improved types of wood stoves have been in use in the early ninth and tenth centuries A.D., and more recent past in Sri Lanka. Artefacts unearthed in an excavation, done in Polonnaruwa, an ancient capital in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka, contained broken parts of pottery stoves estimated to be about 1000 years old. There are also indications that stoves were in use in the more recent past in the 18th century. The current interest in stove activities dates back to three decades. It is evident that interest generated in South India in the early nineteen fifty's has had a resonant effect in Sri Lanka. This is largely due to the migration of South Indians to work in the tea plantations concentrated in the central part of the country. Stove improvement practices such as the use of multi pot hearths (see fig. 1 ) were, however, confined to this South Indian community and were not seen to be wide spread in other parts of Sri Lanka. The reason for interest on wood stoves among the South Indian community may be the poor accommodation facilities provided by the British landlords which required all household activities to be done within a limited space and the stringent measures adopted to conserve high land forests. In other parts of the country firewood was abundantly available three decades ago as Sri Lanka had 45% of its land area under forest cover which probably may be the reason for lack of concern on stove activities. However, many houses in the traditional villages of Sri Lanka, where the majority of the community lives, had an improved version of the three stone open fire where the three stones were covered with a mud insulation forming a semi circular U-shape (see figure 1). It is difficult to assess how and when this practice came into being.
Efforts to introduce improved stoves began in the early ninteen fifty's. During this period a number of private individuals, government and nongovernment agencies, had tried building the 'Herl chula' (see fig. 2) which was popular in South India. However, widespread use, sustained efforts in dissemination or other improvements are not evident. The objectives of these efforts were primarily to improve kitchen environment and hygenic conditions.
The period from 1978 to 1983 saw some remarkable and vital changes taking place in stove development activities in Sri Lanka. This was a crucial period in that, within a short period of two decades, the forests in Sri Lanka have sacrificed half of their lives to the "axeman" disguised in the form of development or otherwise. As a result it was evident that environmental changes were beginning to take place. Firewood scarcities were evergrowing even in places where firewood was abundantly available. The price of firewood was escalating in the urban areas. Amidst this unfortunate situation the "Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamava", a leading community development organisation in Sri Lanka, began the Sarvodaya wood stove project in 1979. Prior to undertaking any design work, Sarvodaya embarked on a survey of traditional fuels, kitchens, stoves and cooking practices in Sri Lanka. Following this survey and guided by the data collected, Sarvodaya started evolving a suitable design for the rural households. This exercise, which took about four years to complete, apart from exposing the weak points of the previous programmes, had a tremendous impact on improving the quality of stove development activities in Sri Lanka. In these efforts Sarvodaya was backed by ITDG (UK) which brought in a wealth of international experience particularly from India, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Guatemala. As a result, the Sarvodaya project introduced new concepts, training, monitoring and evaluation methodologies, testing procedures, design experience from other countries which were not available in the past. Avenues were created for interchange of experiences and communication with stove workers in other parts of the world and more funding was coming in for research and development work. In 1981, an International Workshop on stove projects was held in Sri Lanka sponsored by ITDG. Other stove project activities, particularly of the CISIR and IDB, too were greatly benefited by the Sarvodaya Wood Stove Project. During the four years of the Sarvodaya wood stove project, five designs (see fig. 3) were introduced beginning with the Lorena stove adopted in Guatemala, each design being a modification of the previous one. These efforts evolved an acceptable design in 1982 which is basically a two piece two pot pottery liner stove with mud insulation. The pottery liner is inserted to give strength and standardisation of critical design parameters. This design was particularly for the rural users.
In the meantime, CISIR developed a charcoal stove which was found to be popular among the urban users, and a single piece wood stove with a grate also for the urban users. IDB too came up with two improved designs. It is evident that stove design activities made considerable progress in the period 1978-1983. Similarly, the period 1983-1987 saw a great leap forward in stove dissemination activities, particularly due to the efforts of the Ministry of Power and Energy. By the year 1983, although suitable designs for the urban and rural households were available (see fig. 4), organised efforts at large scale dissemination were not visible other than the limited extension activities of Sarvodaya confined to a few villages in the hill country and the marketing efforts of the State Timber Corporation to popularise the "Timco" charcoal stove developed by the CISIR.
Towards the end of 1983, the Ministry of Power and Energy, showing its concern on the deteriorating domestic energy situation, focussed its attention on fuelwood conservation possibilities. As a initial step, the Ministry of Power and Energy tried to co- ordinate the isolated efforts of various organisations involved in stove activities. This resulted in the formulation of the National Fuelwood Conservation Programme in 1984, the major activity being the widespread dissemination of improved wood stoves. The implementation of this programme is undertaken by the Alternative Energy Development Division of the Ceylon Electricity Board, which has brought in a considerable amount of resources in the form of staff and organisation to manage the programme. In the period 1985-1987 a total of 125,000 stoves were installed by the National Stove Programme under a bilateral agreement between Sri Lanka and the Government of Netherlands and under three separate IRDP funds provided by NORAD, SIDA and the Dutch Government. The sequence of important events in stove development activities in Sri Lanka could be summarised as; 1953 Introduction of "Herl chula" 1972 IDB concrete stove. 1975 IDB brick stove. 1978 CISIR charcoal stove. 1979 Commencement of Sarvodaya Stove Project. 1981 International workshop on stove project sponsored by ITDG. 1983 CISIR single pot stove - Sarvodaya two-pot stove. Field evaluation of the Sarvodaya stove by the CEB. Evaluation of dissemination strategy CEB. 1984 Launching of the National Fuelwood Conservation Programme by the Ministry of Power & Energy. High priority accorded to the NFCP by HE the President. 1985 IRDP stove projects in Hambantota and Ratnapura Districts provided by the NORAD and the Dutch Government. 1986 National stove programme funded under the Dutch-Sri Lanka Governments. Prof. Mohan Munasinghe award presented to the NFCP for best energy project in 1985. 1987 Urban Stoves Programme funded by ODA. [top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 15: Stove Progress in Kenya and Sri Lanka
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28 August 2008; Last edited:
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Pagename: BP15:SriLankanStovesPastAndPresent @HEDON: RFNA | ||||||||||||||
