Selected Newspaper Articles

CCDB Organized a Seminar on Biochar in Dhaka

2018, 24 August, Agrilife (News and Views for Life)

A half-day seminar on “Biochar for Food Security, Livelihoods and Combating Climate Change” was held at BARC Conference Hall, Farm Gate, Dhaka on Saturday 14 July.  This brief article lists seminar presenters and participants.  At the seminar, agronomists and soil scientists presented their latest research findings.  These projects used biochar collected from households using Akha TLUD stoves.   The properties of biochar are affected by how it is made, so it is important to study biochar made by burning local fuel in an Akha.  [][pdf].

A synopsis of the Biochar Seminar Proceedings (pdf, 1.6 Mb)

শিবালয়ে উন্নয়ন মেলায় কৃষি বান্ধব চুলা (আখা) ও বায়োচার প্রদর্শনী

(Akha Stove and Biochar Exhibition at the Shibaloy Agricultural Development Fair)

2017, 14 January, noakhalirkatha24.com  [] [pdf]

The “Akha – Agriculture-Friendly Cookstove”  and biochar technology was exhibited at three technology fairs.  This short article in Bangla is about local politicians visiting the booth of the Akha/Biochar Project at the Shibaloy Fair.

“Khorshed Ali, a farmer in Manikganj, was visibly excited about the new bio-char fertiliser. Having used it for some time now: “I have been cultivating aubergine, cabbage and cauliflowers with this bio-char and it helps produce the same amount of crops as regular chemical fertiliser does.” ” (Abu Siddique, 2016, Dhaka Tribune)

Biochar: An Eco-Friendly Fertiliser

By: Abu Siddique

2016, 11 December,  Dhaka Tribune [] [pdf]

This article describes how a farmer in Manikganj is using biochar in his fields.  The article explains how the Akha makes biochar, whilst also maintaining a smoke-free cooking environment.   The article also alludes to a need for future research to developed compressed biomass fuels out of common low-density fuels.   That would greatly improve the quality of energy in the countryside, as well as increase soil fertility through biochar.

Biochar Producing Through Rural Households in Bangladesh

By: Mohammad Younus Ali, Manikganj

2016, 3 June, The New Nation [] [pdf]

This is a detailed article that explains the importance of biochar and the history of the Akha stove.  The article draws on an academic working paper written by Winter and Islam (2105).  The article gives a good overview of the philosophy behind the Akha/Biochar Initiative; the underlying objectives are to introduce a new method of cooking that produces biochar to “maintain national self-sufficiency in food”, but at the same time having a locally made TLUD —The Akha— to “maintaining national self-sufficiency in cooking.”