Every year 3.2 million deaths occur due to household air pollution—237,000 of those are children. Household air pollution in Africa, largely caused by indoor cooking fires, is responsible for more deaths than AIDS and Malaria combined!

We listened to the community to approached us concerned about smoke inhalation and have developed a simple, effective chimney design that can be manufactured locally and distributed via a social franchise model—giving local communities the skills and confidence to make their own chimneys.

A key design consideration was: how can we work with the local community to create a solution that creates the least possible impact on cooking practices and yet effectively removes smoke. The chimney requires minimal change in cooking practices, encouraging long term adoption.

In the creation of the chimney we also provided an effective barrier to stop infants and children from rolling/stepping into the fire, reducing the injuries caused by burns.

Design Team

Natasha Baulis (Team Anthropologist)

David Baulis (Designer)

Jacob Mills (in country advisor)

Majanta (in country liaison)

Alex Yung (Centre for Global Equality)

Jacob Mills Mumma Walter The first prototype installed in Tanzania

Early 2D Laser Cut Prototype

Silicon Seal on the Roof

Step 1: 2D shapes

Step 2: Rolling the 2D shapes to make 3D shapes

Step 3: Installing the chimney

Getting into the Chimney Business

So how did we get into the chimney business? It begins with a community in the Simanjiro desert (Tanzania), a nurse and a baby with a troubling cough. The community was one I was familiar with—I had had the privilege of collaborating with them on some of their music productions before; the nurse was my mother—you could say I was familiar with her also; the baby was new to me, as was that awful, chest-tearing cough. Sadly, I am more familiar with that sound now.

In her attempt to diagnose the cough, my mother asked a few probing questions. It did not take her long to determine that the child had bronchitis, brought on by prolonged exposure to smoke. She asked if the baby—a little girl—was always strapped to her mother's back during cooking, she was. The fire always inside? Yes. And the door always closed? Again, yes. My mother asked her interpreter, a leader in the community with a strong track record for advocating changes to cultural practices that impacted health outcomes, if there was any possibility of changing this practice for the sake of the mother's own health as well as that of her child. He said there was not. He seemed quite sure, sure enough that the discussion ended there. A visit to the local health clinic was recommended and the conversation moved on to burn treatments—another side-effect of childhoods spent in close proximity to open flames.

As neither a health worker nor an engineer, it would be several years and a rather different context before I would have reason to revisit that conversation.

My husband, David, and I entered a biomedical hackathon at our university in Scotland. Neither of us was studying in the relevant department, but we were bored with our theoretical degrees and looking for something hands-on to do. On the first day of the competition, the topic was announced: Global Health Problems. Like a shot, that encounter in Simanjiro came to mind. I couldn't say why. The association was immediate. Could it be serious enough to be deemed a 'Global Health problem', though? A brief hunt on Google—one-third of the world's population dependent on open fires or inefficient stoves for cooking, and 3.2 million deaths per year attributed to indoor air pollution—changed my perception of the scope of this issue dramatically, and we haven't turned back since. We went on to win first prize with our 'Vesma' ventilation unit. A heavily engineered fan unit powered by a falling weight. This design went on to win further grant funds at other university competitions, allowing us to continue working on the first prototype. Very cutting edge. Everyone loves clever tech.

A brief phone call to another organisation using similar technology, however, foretold the end of our first prototype. Nobody can be bothered lifting a weight every ten minutes, and manufacturing and maintenance costs are prohibitive. Vesma? Ves-nah.

It is surprisingly difficult to put aside an exciting and innovative design solution. Even when we had a considerable body of evidence to say that it simply wasn't what people wanted. The trash heap of development is replete with fancy and fashionable ideas that look great on a PowerPoint but are ill-suited to the lifestyles of the people they were ostensibly created to serve.

This feedback helped us refocus on our design criteria. No piece of tech, no matter how clever, is of any value if it is not designed with the end user in mind.

I wouldn't say our chimney is innovative, but it works. It is flat packed for your convenience (IKEA would be proud), locally manufactured, and easy to install (my dear husband forgot to take his tool kit after lugging it all the way to Kenya, so the first unit was installed with a literal rock and an equally literal pocket knife), no maintenance required. Best of all, it doesn't require a user manual or an education programme.

Just cook, Mama!

Natasha (Team Anthropologist)

The Next Stage

We are currently running a GoFundMe Campaign for the second stage of this project where we are spending 12 months travelling through Africa establishing 10 Social Franchise Chimney Operations—working with existing business owners to provide the knowledge and expertise such that they can make and install chimneys. This distribution model enables us to scale the solution sustainably to maximise impact.

We have worked hard over the last few months with our partners (the Centre for Global Equality, Cambridge UK) to develop this model and are excited to see its implementation. So far we have raised AU$40,100 towards our AU$100,00 goal.

Natasha & David Baulis

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