About three billion people in the developing world are currently cooking on biomass in a very inefficient way, releasing smoke that causes 1.9 million premature deaths annually. Women and young children are the most affected. In addition, the use of biomass like wood increases pressures on local natural resources and forces women and children to spend many hours collecting wood. This is perceived tiring and sometimes dangerous. Inefficient cook stoves also contribute to climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and aerosols such as black carbon.

 

The BoP Innovation Center is supporting a multi-stakeholder initiative for the development of a sustainable business for improved cooking stoves in Africa. A pilot is currently carried out in Lesotho.

 

Success factors: social embeddedness

Sectors: Energy

Partners: N.C.

BoP region: Africa

Role of the BoP Innovation Center: support and facilitate the project,

Contact person: Helene Mancheron (mancheron @bopinc. org)