In rural India, the demand for improved cooking stoves is critical. Due to unsustainable forest harvesting and depleting forest cover, women must trek further to gather fuel wood for cooking. Open stoves emit copious amounts of smoke and pose negative health risks. This problem requires community based energy solutions within indigenous groups.
With this project, 109 villages and 3750 households will be provided with SARALA stoves, an innovative solution to energy efficient cooking. These stoves bundle cooking heat as a self- contained system, and consequently less wood needs to be burned. SARALA stoves conserve 25%-30% of biofuels as compared to open cooking and produce less smoke than open stoves. In addition to simply providing stoves, this project involves training women and youth to maintain the stoves.
The objective of this cook-stove project is to reduce fuel wood demand and improve the health of indigenous communities. The holistic approach implemented in this project combines climate protection, pro-poor growth and improved community health.
Project Impact + Benefits:
- energy efficient cooking methods will reduce 17.329 t of CO2 emissions in about 5 year’s time (2012-16)
- supports sustainable forests by decreasing fuel wood consumption
- health benefits (reduced smoke production decreases eye irritation)
- improved air quality
- empowerment of women
- pro-poor growth: additional employment and an improved income situation
- local partner organizations recognized and benefited (demonstrate a capacity to manage a comparatively large project)
