Participatory Popularization and Demonstration of Household Biomass Stove in Selected Districts of Jimma Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Participatory popularization and demonstration of household biomass stove was conducted mainly in coffee producing districts of Jimma zone (namely, Manna, Gomma, Gera, and Shabe Sombo districts). The main studies of this research were to popularize the stove, to create wider demand on stove, to create and strengthen linkage among possible actors, to enhance multiplication and dissemination of the stove and to collect relevant feedback from the farmers. Water boiling test of the stove was carried out by using coffee husk and 3.5 L of pot at different phase. From WBT using 3.5 L of pot, thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, fire power and time to boil water during hot start phase were 29%, 125 g/L, 9,899 watts and 7.7 min whereas during cold start phase were 28.53%, 127 g/L, 8,868.84 watts and 8.9 min respectively. For the success of the activity, training program was organized for the farmers, development agents, and other agricultural experts. A total of 97 participants attended the training, with 85.2% being farmers and the rest were agricultural experts (development agents and subject matter specialists). To share experiences among the participants and access their feedbacks, mini-field days were conducted with 91 (58.2% female and 41.8% male) participants. Following a field demonstration, a focus group discussion with 26 farmers revealed a positive perception of the stove across all assessed attributes. This universally positive response strongly recommends further production and dissemination of the stove through coordinated stakeholder efforts.