Simoshi takes pride in promoting the maintenance activities performed on all institutional improved cook stoves (IICS) installed under its Project Activity. Every participating school enjoys free annual maintenance on every IICS.
Unfortunately, the maintenance habit is lacking in schools that made huge investments in the past by purchasing IICS for their kitchens. We continuously experience the disappointment from school officials that complain how the IICS deteriorate over time and the schools expenditure go back to unsustainable amounts of firewood consumed per term, just as they did before with their traditional stoves.
Moreover, when schools attempt to repair the IICS, the cost for doing so becomes too high to afford. To make things even worse, the prospect of having to confront such expenses every now and then, leaves school officials wondering if it is really worth it investing in the technology, considering the costs to be incurred in the future.
Simoshi tackles the maintenance problem by ensuring the IICS are continuously monitored and maintained at least once a year, ensuring the damages are contained and the maintenance costs are kept low before damages become too serious reaching the pricey core parts of the IICS. The cost for implementing the maintenance programme is supported through the benefits accrued from the sale of carbon credits.
An example of a primary school in MItyana experiencing huge firewood expenditures with their IICS due to lack of maintenance.