Cookstoves – Malawi & Mozambique

Project Description

Malawi is amongst the world’s poorest countries, ranking 171 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index.  Over 70% of the population live below the income poverty line of US$1.25 a day.

Firewood is burnt using a traditional pot support or three-stones used for cooking by approximately 90% of households with about 7% using charcoal, especially in rural areas

The project distributes 20,000+ domestic fuel-efficient cookstoves to replace inefficient three-stone fires or traditional pot supports.  It promotes and installs improved cookstoves (the TLC Rocket Stove) for use by residential households in rural areas.

These cookstoves substantially reduce fuel consumption and emissions by improving combustion efficiency and thermal transfer to the pot compared with a traditional pot support or three-stone fire

Each cookstove’s end user is informed that carbon finance is being generated by the use of the ICS, and that this finance is in turn used to lower the sales price of the ICS

The project delivers a long-term, secure and simple contribution to sustainable development in Malawi that, without carbon finance, would not exist

Sustainability Beyond Carbon

The project helps reduce the use of non-renewable biomass from Malawi’s forests, assisting conservation of existing forest stock, helping protect natural forest ecosystems and wildlife habitats.  By reducing forest degradation, it helps protect watersheds that regulate water table levels and prevent flash flooding

By using firewood more efficiently, less time is spent collecting fuel, reducing the work burden on rural families, especially women and children and providing time for alternative economic activities and schooling

Indoor air pollution is reduced which benefits women and children in particular.  The WHO has found that 40% of all childhood pneumonia can be attributed to exposure to indoor smoke, which has also been found to cause chronic lung disease in women

The cookstove is a safer method for combusting biomass for cooking, helping to reduce burn injuries, especially for children

Project helps develop a section of Malawi’s rural economy; in local assembly, distribution, maintenance and monitoring activities

Household expenditures on cooking fuel are reduced by using the cookstoves, while the reduced household labour and time spent gathering fuel enables more productive economic activities to be undertaken

It helps in the creation of direct local employment opportunities in operational and management roles as well as assembly and/ or manufacturing initiatives