Overview: Since 2018 CQC has distributed approximately 270,000 bamboo seedlings to the recipients of our rural stove program, with 197,000 bamboo seedlings graciously donated by USAID. CQC is currently preparing for another massive distribution of 350,000 bamboo seedlings this upcoming wet season. Only households continuously using and properly maintaining their cookstove are eligible for a bamboo seedling, reinforcing positive behaviors over time. Dendrocalamus asper commonly referred to as giant bamboo is a rapidly growing, dense-clumping, non-invasive bamboo species that grows well in tropical climates such as those in Malawi. Bamboo is multipurpose and can easily be used as a sustainable fuel source for our improved cookstove, building materials at the household and community level, and as a source of income generation. Our goal is to create a network of women bamboo growers surrounding the greater Lilongwe City area that CQC would buy back as fuel to supply the urban market.
Intended Goal/Outcome: Planting bamboo at scale will create a sustainable fuel source at the household level and build a virtual plantation for supply to the urban markets as well as create effective carbon sinks to mitigate global warming.
SDG Contribution 15 – Life on Land: Sustainable management of forest, including halting and reserving land degradation, with particular emphasis on reforestation.
Number of Potential People Impacted by the end of 2022: 620,000 since 2018, with projected 350,000 households in 2021.