We’re going to spend the next two or three blogs telling you about stoves. Sounds less than appealing doesn't it? Well, how about if we told you that stoves can be a matter of life and death? This isn’t just for the obvious reason - that people need them to cook. However, in Kenya as a whole, a staggering 96 per cent of the population has no access to grid electricity. Stoves are essential. This usually means wood and dung-fuelled stoves. This may seem an elegant enough solution until you consider the effects of the smoke. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that some 1.5 million deaths a year are caused by wood smoke. And aside from that worrying statistic there are the ongoing and long-term health effects of wood smoke. Most of these are not too hard to guess: they include lung disease, respiratory infections and ear and eye problems. And children - and adults - can be burned in open fires. That’s far from all. In the area Friends of Londiani knows best - the Londiani and Kipkelion Districts - women can spend up to six hours a week collecting firewood — and carrying it long distances. And it’s not free: permits and payments can be involved. Nor is wood unlimited: deforestation is a growing issue. There is an alternative, however - one that uses wood, but in a safer and more efficient way: smokeless stoves. Regular readers will have seen blogs from volunteers working on the installation of such stoves and may have wondered what they involve. Well, we are today working with a stove design adapted for local conditions over the past few years. It takes three or fours hours to install, costs about $25 and can more than halve firewood use. That reduced spending can result in a return on investment within a few months but, equally importantly, women spend less time carrying and collecting wood, which gives them more time to do other things. It’s no surprise therefore that communities across a number of districts are listing smokeless stoves as a priority. And we are listening to them. Friends of Londiani can’t solve this problem for everyone - but it can make a start, and set an example, with the help of volunteers and the residents of Londiani. In fact all of us, together, have been working on a smokeless stove project since 2009. That’s what we're doing about stoves - and why. Next week we’ll tell you how we’re doing it.