The Rural Energy Technology Assistance Programme, RETAP, has set up a project in Kenya that is helping schools to stop using wood that has been harvested from the forests of Mount Kenya.

Schools use wood for both cooking and heating water. RETAP has been introducing the idea of using energy-efficient cookstoves instead of open fires. The stoves cut wood consumption by between 50% and 75%, but they are expensive to buy and install, so the project is running a tailor-made micro-credit scheme that gives schools loans with which to acquire the stoves.

In addition, the project has been helping schools to establish woodlots, providing them with 5,000 fast-growing eucalyptus seedlings over a period of two years. The idea is that they begin to grow their own fuelwood. Within five years the school should become self-sufficient in wood production.

The efficiency of the stoves and the success of the woodlots depend in a large part on the way they are used and managed. To maximise success, RETAP has provided training for catering staff and woodlot managers in each school involved in the project.