MiG BioCooker – A Sustainable and Healthy Solution for the Future of Cooking
Summary
The MiG BioCooker is an innovative, eco-friendly stove designed to improve lives by providing fast, smoke-free, and sustainable cooking. Powered by solar energy, ignited with sunflower oil, and fueled by briquettes or pellets made from agricultural waste, it offers a cleaner and more efficient alternative to traditional cooking methods.
With a flexible leasing model and low-maintenance design, the MiG BioCooker presents a long-term solution for sustainable household energy. Local manufacturing in Malawi creates jobs and strengthens communities. The successful implementation of the project in Waliranji, Mchinji District, highlights strong community impact and growing demand. As the project scales up, more households will gain access to this modern, environmentally conscious cooking solution.
Living Lab – Innovation in Practice
The Living Lab is located in the Waliranji community, Mchinji District in central Malawi. It is a collaboration between Going Green – a female-led Malawian social impact enterprise – Swedish company Make it Green, and the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE).
The project focuses on developing healthier and more efficient cookstoves using biomass briquettes instead of firewood. The target group includes local farmers under contract with Going Green, who grow sunflowers. By using the agricultural residues from sunflower oil production to create fuel briquettes, the project supports a circular, sustainable energy and business model that fits local needs.
Completed and Current Activities
- A new and improved prototype of the MiG BioCooker has been developed and adapted to local conditions and available biomass, such as sunflower residues.
- Small-scale briquetting technology has been identified and tested using sunflower waste. The briquettes burn longer and more efficiently than traditional fuels.
- Emissions testing has been conducted, with adjustments made to reduce pollutants like CO and PM2.5. ISO testing results place the stove at Tier 4 and 5, with the highest safety rating.
- The cookstove has been tested in real-world conditions by 90 households.
- A production line has been established in Malawi, supported by tools and technology from Sweden.
- A briquetting machine has been delivered, installed, and is now operating daily in Malawi.
- A long-term user test began in May 2024 across 20 villages, where households use the stove and sunflower briquettes daily.
- A third visit to Malawi was conducted by Make It Green in January 2025 to follow up with the 20 villages where the cookstoves are in operation. The purpose of the visit was to ensure the stoves were functioning properly and to carry out a quality control assessment. All users expressed satisfaction, and the stoves were found to be working effectively.
- Work is ongoing to establish a local supply chain for briquettes, as no rural distributors currently exist in Mchinji.
Planned Activities
- Local subcontractors for component supply and assembly have been identified and engaged.
- Scale up the production line to manufacture thousands of cookstoves.
- Distribute and sell thousands of stoves to reach more households in rural communities.
The Problem Being Addressed
Agriculture is the main economic activity in the Waliranji community. Large-scale land clearing for farming has led to the depletion of forest reserves. This environmental degradation is worsened by the heavy dependence on charcoal and firewood for cooking. The most common cooking method is the traditional three-stone fire, where firewood or even plastics are burned. These methods produce significant smoke, which is inhaled by the person cooking—most often women—leading to severe health risks.
These challenges hinder Malawi’s development and pose threats to both environmental sustainability and public health. The MiG BioCooker directly addresses these issues by reducing reliance on wood fuel, improving indoor air quality, and promoting clean, locally produced energy solutions.