In this paper, we examine the efficiency of different improved cookstoves (ICS) in the Kenya market to understand their impact on household energy saving and deforestation. Similar to many other countries in the global south, especially in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), in Kenya traditional cooking methods such as the three stone cookstove (TSC) are still dominant, especially in the rural households. These types of stoves have very low efficiency levels, and therefore require large amounts of fuelwood with substantial negative impact on the environment and human health. Despite the three decades of improved cookstove development and promotion in Kenya, the penetration remains low especially in the rural areas where it is estimated that over 90% are still relying on the traditional TSC for cooking. Lack of data on stoves testing has been proposed as one of the critical bottlenecks to adoption of improved cookstove. The study aims to address this gap by providing stove-testing data on some of the stoves currently in the market. The study was conducted in all the 7 sub-counties of Kisumu County. It adopted a mixed method approach, which included quantitative and qualitative methods. Qualitative studies included literature review, key informant interviews (KIIs) and focused group discussion while quantitative studies included household interviews and stove performance. A total of 400 households were interviewed. The data obtained shows that firewood and charcoal are the most dominant fuel used for cooking as recorded in 74% and 67% of the interviewed households, respectively. Further, majority of the respondents believed that the tree cover in their areas is diminishing mainly due to the destruction of woodland for fuelwood. Three stoves were used for this study, which included the traditional three stone cookstove (TSC), Integrated Domestic Energy Unit (IDEU micro-gasifier stove) and Kuni mbili stove. Both IDEU and Kuni mbili performed better than the traditional three stone cookstove sin all the parameters such Kitchen test and controlled cooking test as well as emission reduction. IDEU was superior to all the stoves tested. The study has provided valuable data on kitchen performance which will provide useful insight on potential energy saving and forest. Besides, the study also pointed out at the weaknesses of some of the improved stoves in the market and need for further design adjustment to improve efficiency.
Genotype x environment interaction was determined from field experiments conducted to evaluate sweet sorghum genotypes in Western Kenya during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 rainy season from April to July at Alupe, Kibos, Homa Bay and Spectre International farm. The materials used in the study consisted of sixteen sweet sorghum genotypes and two sorghum genotypes sourced from ICRISAT and KARI. The treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Data were collected on sorghum traits in accordance with the procedure outlined in the ICRISAT sorghum descriptor. The study revealed that genotype by environment interaction had significant influence on most of the traits. This indicates that selection for plant height, girth, brix juice, juice volume and stalks weigh cannot be carried out across the four environments, suggesting that selection for these traits have to be carried separately in each of the four environments.
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