The technology research presented in this paper is focused to help energy access at household level, recovering agricultural waste as fuel; the proposed solution has reached both its technical and socio¬economic goals. The low-tech model is reproducible with minimal investment capacity and very basic skills, so it is appropriate also for households with very low income level. The aimed efficiency, in the range 15-20%, has been reached. This value is lower than best performing improved wood cookstoves, but burning rice husk for cooking purposes is not so simple with so strict limitations on construction materials and total costs. Most importantly, a reliable operational functioning has been reached, giving a neutral contribution to HAP, thanks to the natural draft provided by the chimney. Satisfactory results also arise from the safety assessment. The cookstove is capable of cooking 750 g of crude rice in 2.5 kg of water using a typical fuel charge (1 kg) of rice husk, resulting in 3.0 kg of hot meal. This solution, whose appropriateness level has been widely discussed, can significantly contribute to the house-hold energy basket, as assessed by the authors' economic feasibility study in a typical Sub-Saharan setting, as a case study.