Introduction

Over 262,000 hectares of woodland are lost each year in Zimbabwe1. The major driver of this deforestation is the demand for firewood for heating and cooking in rural communities due to the lack of electrification.

Firewood provides about 61% of the country’s total energy supply2 and the average household in Zimbabwe uses ~5.5 tons of firewood every year3 - almost entirely gathered from the once extensive Miombo woodland systems that used to cover much of Zimbabwe.

Sources:
[1] 2023, Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Zimbabwe National Forestry Policy.
[2] Zimbabwe 2022 Population and Housing Census Report, and European Commission & UNEP Interactive Country Fiches
[3] Cicada Kitchen Performance Tests, which estimate 15kg of firewood used per household per day in the baseline scenario

CICADA CARBON COOKSTOVE PROJECT

Fuelwood provides about 61% of the country’s total energy supply2 and the average household in Zimbabwe uses ~5.5 tons of firewood every year.3

This firewood is almost entirely gathered from the once extensive Miombo woodland systems that used to cover much of Zimbabwe.

Reducing this demand for firewood will require the provision of alternative technologies to increase energy efficiency in cooking. This single focus alone can dramatically reduce the annual deforestation rate in Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, women and children are traditionally responsible for cooking and often travel long distances to collect firewood, taking time away from other activities such as education and alternative income generation. Moreover, open cooking fires are typically set in a closed kitchen resulting in a high prevalence of respiratory issues.

Sources:
[2] Zimbabwe 2022 Population and Housing Census Report, and European Commission & UNEP Interactive Country Fiches

[3] Cicada Kitchen Performance Tests, which estimate 15kg of firewood used per household per day in the baseline scenario

Our goal is to leave both the environment, and the people who depend on it, better off.

Our pipeline includes the following projects:

Cicada Rocket Stove

TECHNOLOGY-BASED

Clean Cooking Credits

Distributing 160,000 fuel-efficient rocket stoves to rural communities in Zimbabwe (100,000 distributed to date). This project has a striking impact on rural livelihoods, health and ecosystems. Each stove will save ~1 Ha of woodland over its useful life.

Cicada Nyangani Seedlings

NATURE-BASED

Nyangani Watershed Soil Carbon

An ambitious VM42 project working with multiple stakeholders across the landscape. The project will focus on catchment restoration, conservation agriculture, and preservation of the rare Afromontane forests of the eastern highlands.

Cicada Seed Planting

SEQUESTRATION

Direct Seeding A/R

Replanting 100m appropriate indigenous trees over the next 30 years in the degraded miombo systems of central Zimbabwe, using a combination of direct seeding and nursery planting.

This ambitious goal will require significant funding.

MyTrees Seedlings
MyTrees Farmer
MyTrees Logo

MyTrees is an implementation partner of Cicada Carbon, operating across Zimbabwe. It is an independent non-profit working towards restoring and protecting ecosystems through grassroots engagement with local communities.

CICADA CARBON
Project Case Studies

HARAREBULAWAYOMUTAREZIMBABWE
Direct Seeding

Direct Seeding A/R

An ambitious project to plant over 100m indigenous trees that survive over the next 20 years using a combination of direct seeding techniques and nursery grown trees. We are developing a mobile app to monitor growth and survival rates.

Nyangani REDD+

Nyangani Watershed REDD+

The Nyangani watershed forms the headwaters of two important rivers in Eastern Zimbabwe, the Gairezi and the Pungwe River, and some of the last remnant afromontane rainforest in the country. This REDD+ project would comprise the catchments of both rivers and involve multiple interventions aimed at reducing deforestation in the area.

Cicada Angwa Manyame

Angwa Manyame Basin REDD+

A REDD+ project that aims to dramatically reduce deforestation in the still pristine Angwa Manyame basin, by providing communities with alternative fuels and farming techniques, and enforcing laws on deforestation.

Clean Cooking Credits

Clean Cooking Credits

This project seeks to place 160,000 efficient rocket stoves in Zimbabwean households. These stoves reduce fuel consumption by up to ⅔ and save ~1Ha of woodland over their expected life. The stoves also dramatically impact respiratory disease on women and reduce the time spent by girls and women collecting firewood.

Click or hover over the locations to discover more about each of our Cicada Carbon projects across Zimbabwe.