Warning. This technology has not yet been validated, because it is not yet ready to scale.

ECO SIKA: Clean Cooking Innovation for Gari and Salt Processing

An affordable clean-energy solution that empowers women salt and gari producers to adapt to climate change!

The cooking stove is a rectangular structure designed for agrifood processing. It measures approximately 2.5 meters in length and efficiently integrates two to four independent combustion chambers within a single frame. This system relies on a controlled air injection to manage the fire. A fan, positioned at the rear of each chamber and powered by batteries or solar panels, is manually operated via a switch to regulate the air supply for the combustion. This controlled process ensures a more complete combustion, which minimizes the release of toxic smoke and pollution compared to traditional methods. The stove utilizes locally available sustainable fuels, such as ecological charcoal or carbonized palm nut shells.

This technology is not yet validated.

9•4

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 4/9

Positive impacts: 9

Target Groups	Positive Impacts
Women engaged in salt and gari production	Increased income and productivity through access to improved processing tools and training; Reduced workload and time spent in manual processing; enhanced product quality and market competitiveness.
Youth entrepreneurs engaged in salt and gari production	Creation of new business opportunities in value addition, packaging, and distribution; Increased employment and innovation in processing methods.
Low-income rural households	Improved access to affordable gari and salt; Enhanced local food security and household nutrition through stable supply and income diversification.
Women-led cooperatives and associations	Strengthened collective bargaining power; Improved access to markets, finance, and technical support; Enhanced leadership and decision-making roles.

More...

Unintended impacts: 5
Mitigations: 7

Barriers: 6
Mitigations: 7

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Can operate with or without batteries, meaning it adapts both to weather variability and to households’ financial capacity.

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Significant reduction of wood fuel use and forest logging

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

The technology releases much less carbon compared to traditional methods such as wood fuel use. ECO SIKA produces no direct emissions during cooking, while traditional fuels continuously release significant amounts of CO₂. Additionally, the reduction in fuelwood demand helps prevent deforestation, further lowering carbon emissions

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Problem

ECO SIKA stove produces no direct emissions during cooking, significantly reducing air pollution and associated health risks.
The stove cuts demand for wood fuel by up to 50% by using agro-residues, protecting local forests and biodiversity.
ECO SIKA improves combustion efficiency by over 25% through controlled air injection, optimizing the use of energy resources.
ECO SIKA can operate with solar energy, biofuels, or hybrid configurations, providing a replicable model for clean and affordable energy access in rural and peri-urban areas in the context of advances renewable energy transition.
By improving cooking efficiency and reducing fuel costs, ECO SIKA strengthens agro-processing value chains, increases productivity, and empowers women-led enterprises, promoting inclusive economic growth and boosts rural economic development.

Solution

Climate Action & Health: The ECO SIKA stove produces no direct emissions during cooking, significantly reducing air pollution and associated health risks.
Forest Conservation: The stove cuts demand for wood fuel by up to 50% by using agro-residues, protecting local forests and biodiversity.
Increased Efficiency: Improves combustion efficiency by over 25% through controlled air injection, optimizing the use of energy resources.
Advances Renewable Energy Transition: ECO SIKA can operate with solar energy, biofuels, or hybrid configurations, providing a replicable model for clean and affordable energy access in rural and peri-urban areas.
Boosts Rural Economic Development: By improving cooking efficiency and reducing fuel costs, the technology strengthens agro-processing value chains, increases productivity, and empowers women-led enterprises, promoting inclusive economic growth.

Key points to design your project

To maximize the socio-economic, environmental, and commercial benefits of ECO SIKA and support scalable adoption, governments and decision-makers should consider:

Allocate funding for the initial purchase of ECO SIKA stoves (USD 1,000–2,300 depending on the number of fireplaces) and include long-term maintenance budgets to ensure sustained operation and ROI.
Ensure access to solar panels and, if necessary, batteries to operate the fan/switch system for controlled air injection, enabling clean and efficient combustion even during off-peak sunlight periods.
Guarantee consistent availability of prepared materials—evaporation pans and brine for salt production or gari materials—so that stove capacity is fully utilized and production targets are met.
Identify and prepare flat, stable, and well-ventilated locations for stove installation. Enforce safety protocols, such as keeping flammable materials away, to protect workers and ensure smooth operations.
Provide training for operators and local technicians on stove operation, maintenance (rear access openings and ash trays), and safety procedures to maintain high efficiency and prolong stove lifespan.
Establish systems to track fuel savings, production efficiency, and health/environmental outcomes, supporting evidence-based policy, scaling decisions, and alignment with national climate and development goals.

45 %

ROI Per year

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 4 out of 9

By some projects connected to technology providers

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Positive impact 9

Target Groups	Positive Impacts
Women engaged in salt and gari production	Increased income and productivity through access to improved processing tools and training; Reduced workload and time spent in manual processing; enhanced product quality and market competitiveness.
Youth entrepreneurs engaged in salt and gari production	Creation of new business opportunities in value addition, packaging, and distribution; Increased employment and innovation in processing methods.
Low-income rural households	Improved access to affordable gari and salt; Enhanced local food security and household nutrition through stable supply and income diversification.
Women-led cooperatives and associations	Strengthened collective bargaining power; Improved access to markets, finance, and technical support; Enhanced leadership and decision-making roles.

Unintended impact 5

Target Groups	Unintended Impacts	Mitigation Measures
Women engaged in salt and gari production	Possible exclusion of women with limited literacy in training or marketing activities.	Design inclusive, practical training materials and ensure on-site coaching; Promote peer learning within women’s groups.
Youth entrepreneurs engaged in salt and gari production	Risk of high expectations without sustainable market linkages; Possible migration if business returns are delayed.	Support youth incubation programs and mentoring; Strengthen value chain linkages and access to reliable buyers.
Low-income rural households	Increased competition may disadvantage traditional producers.	Encourage inclusive business models and local cooperatives to integrate small producers.
Women-led cooperatives and associations	Risk of internal conflicts over resource management.	Establish transparent governance mechanisms; Provide leadership and conflict resolution training.

Barriers 6

Target Groups	Barriers to Adoption	Mitigation Measures
Women engaged in salt and gari production	Limited access to credit, high equipment costs, and lack of business management skills.	Facilitate access to microfinance and savings groups; promote collective equipment ownership; Provide tailored business capacity building.
Youth entrepreneurs engaged in salt and gari production	Limited start-up capital and technical know-how; Lack of trust from financial institutions.	Introduce youth-focused financing schemes; Provide entrepreneurship training and technical mentorship.
Low-income rural households	Limited awareness of improved practices; Reliance on traditional, low-yield methods.	Strengthen extension services and community demonstrations to showcase benefits and build trust.
Women-led cooperatives and associations	Administrative bottlenecks, weak management capacity, and limited exposure to broader markets.	Offer institutional strengthening programs; Link cooperatives with established buyers and technical partners.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Benin	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - cool
Arid	–	–
Semiarid	–	–
Subhumid	–	–
Humid	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

ECO SIKA reduces the cost of buying firewood, charcoal, or kerosene, allowing poor families to save money for other essential needs. The resulting economic benefits can increase family savings and resources.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Using ECO SIKA helps improve children’s nutrition when meals are cooked safely

Goal 3: good health and well-being

ECO SIKA reduces air pollution and associated health risks from traditional cooking methods.

Goal 7: affordable and clean energy

ECO SIKA produces energy without greenhouse gas emissions, unlike wood fuel.

Goal 13: climate action

ECO SIKA helps mitigate climate change by decreasing reliance on carbon-intensive fuels.

Goal 15: life on land

ECO SIKA helps reduce deforestation.

Place the ECO SIKA clean cooking on a flat, stable surface in a well-ventilated area.
Ensure evaporation pans and brine are ready, and the ash trays are empty.
Use ecological charcoal or carbonized palm nut shells as fuel.
Combustion intensity is manually regulated using a switch that controls a fan, which injects air to create a stronger, cleaner flame
Use the manual switch to control the fan, which regulates oxygen flow to optimize flame intensity and heat transfer.

Last updated on 27 October 2025

Laboratory of Applied Ecology, University of Abomey-Calavi
Padonou Elie Antoine

Commodities

Cassava Salt

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

+ 3 more

Subcategory

Agrifood processing

Value chain step

Postharvest

Toolkits

Promising Technologies

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Where it can be used Details ›

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones.

Target groups

Development institutions Governments Processors Manufactures Advisory and Extension Services Cooperatives and Agribusinesses

Promising Technologies

ECO SIKA: Clean Cooking Innovation for Gari and Salt Processing

Positive impacts: 9

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your project

45 %

IP

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Level of use 4 out of 9

Positive impact 9

Unintended impact 5

Barriers 6

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 7: affordable and clean energy

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

Commodities

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Category

Subcategory

Value chain step

Toolkits

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Where it can be used Details ›

Target groups

TAAT

Promising Technologies

ECO SIKA: Clean Cooking Innovation for Gari and Salt Processing

Inclusion assessment 9 5 6

Positive impacts: 9

Climate impact 4

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your project

45 %

IP

Scaling readiness

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Level of use 4 out of 9

Inclusion assessment

Positive impact 9

Unintended impact 5

Barriers 6

Tested/adopted in

Where it can be used

Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 7: affordable and clean energy

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

How to use

Commodities

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Category

Subcategory

Value chain step

Toolkits

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Where it can be used Details ›

Target groups