Smokeless Charcoal Ovens Make Baking More Convenient and Protect the Environment

by Amy Levendusky

On April 27, 2006, Seis Solomon of Mand displayed his craftsmanship to the Mand community when he presented a smokeless charcoal oven that he built himself. Seis built the first charcoal oven as part of Phase II of the project entitled, "Pohnpeian Traditional Food for Health", sponsored by the Island Food Community of Pohnpei.

A total of 30 charcoal ovens will be built over the next year and a half in order to help Mand community members with the appropriate cooking technology to make cooking local foods easier and more convenient. Baking local foods in this oven also provides a healthy cooking option as opposed to the more common way of cooking, frying. These ovens will be good for the environment, decreasing emissions of open fires to the air. The wood used in these ovens will burn more efficiently, thus it is likely that in the long run less trees will be needed for firewood.

It is hoped that the input of the charcoal ovens into the Mand community will ultimately increase the consumption of locally grown foods and decrease reliance on imported foods. Baseline data from Phase I of the Mand Project indicated that only 27% of the energy consumed by a random sample of the Mand community was from local foods (the rest from imported). It is also hoped that there will be an improved quality of life related to the convenience and smokeless nature of the charcoal ovens.

IFCP extends its appreciation to the New Zealand Governmen for funding this first oven and to the Global Environment Fund Small Grants Program for assisting in initiating this project. IFCP thanks the Mand community and our collaborating partners and support agencies, including the Pohnpei Office of Economic Affairs, Department of Health, Department of Land and Natural Resources, COM/FSM Land Grant, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Centre of Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE), Pacific German Regional Forestry Project (PGRFP) and Sight and Life.