Partnerships are one of the cornerstones of Burn Design Lab’s mission and model. Partnerships bring unique opportunities and magnify the impact of our stove designs around the world. This summer we are excited to begin exploring a partnership and future work with an organization called BamCashea. Founded by Tabatha Rood in 2018, BamCashea improves local circular agricultural economies in the community of Bamboi, Ghana. The organization’s goal is to rehabilitate and add value to a variety of important agricultural sub-sectors in a socially and environmentally responsible way. From BamCashea, “We have seen first-hand how these efforts can increase income and capital, promote gender equality in land and resource management, and help the community gain access to life-sustaining benefits such as increased food security, access to education, and improved access to healthcare.”

One future endeavor between Burn Design Lab and BamCashea is the installation of one of BDL’s improved shea roaster prototypes in Bamboi, facilitated by BamCashea. The shea roaster prototype will be installed at the Norntoma Women's Cooperative in Bamboi, Ghana. This is a cooperative of nearly 50 women working together to harvest and process shea into butter and other value-added products (soap, pomade, etc.) for local and national sale. Burn Design Lab and BamCashea plan to compare the inputs and efficacy of local versus improved processing methods in a variety of areas, including fuelwood use, cooking time and product quality.

This will provide some key baseline metrics for BDL, BamCashea, and others in the processing of shea from nuts to butter, and confirm the reduction of particulate matter inhaled by women currently roasting shea in the traditional 3 rock method. “Finally,” Tabatha added, “the impact of new technologies cannot be underestimated. When we installed a rainwater catchment system at the Cooperative, we saw 5 other households adopt the simple technology. This equipment will show people that a better method is available, and could result in local adoption or adaptations over time.” 

“Tabatha has a tremendous amount of energy and passion for supporting with these women who are making hand-crafted shea butter,” BDL Executive Director Paul Means added. “She has seen how difficult and yet essential the work is for their livelihood.  Her energy rubs off on us and affirms the importance of the work we are doing to make the occupation of these women safer, less strenuous, and better for their environment.” Burn Design Lab continues to improve the performance of our improved shea roaster prototype and we are excited to see its future impact in Bamboi and beyond.