These are the results the cooks cite for purchasing the stoves. One of the important features of the Mirte's success is its popularity with commercial injera bakers. These are housewives who earn almost all their income from baking and selling injera to hotels, small restaurants and other households. Thousands of injera bakers have already purchased the Mirte. Each Mirte saves approximately 5 kg of wood per injera baking session for the average household.
Most housewives bake injera twice a week.
This is a significant savings for the average Ethiopian urban household. This pays for the stove in days, and makes the sale of injera even more profitable for women bakers. Beyond the fact that the Mirte saves households and commercial bakers money, and protects them from smoke and flames, it also saves Ethiopia scare forestry resources. With the current number of stoves in use, woodfuel savings of over 15,000 tonnes will be realised in 1997, equivalent to the sustained yield of over 3,000 hectares of forests. However, if sales continue at their current rate, over 25,000 Mirte stoves will be in use by the end of 1997, saving 95 tonnes of wood per day or approximately 35,000 tonnes per year.