The Soutra Fourneau project produces and retails high quality, efficient and affordable cookstoves that have been specifically designed for the local population. The benefits from this project are considerable. It protects the environment and local biodiversity by reducing air pollution, deforestation and emissions reductions. Furthermore, it helps local communities save time and money on fuel purchases, reduces the number of smoke-related illnesses and promotes local economic and social activities such as job creation and women’s empowerment.

The project employs 15 full time staff and holds a production facility in Abidjan with a production capacity of 2500 stoves a month. This local production is supported by a structured marketing and sales team, which is spread across the country - 300 sales points, commercial events and corporate partnerships. This team is successfully using social media to stay connected to its community and is one of the most followed pages in Côte d’Ivoire.

Soutra Fourneau is the first efficient cooking stove brand in Côte d’Ivoire and the first ever Gold Standard project registered in this country. Soutra Fourneau has successfully provided cookstoves to a total of 6.000 households in the Abidjan area.

Project impacts and benefits:

• 44.000 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided per year.
• Around 600 hectare of forest preserved so far.
• 64.000 people have benefited from this technology.
• Local communities save up to 60% in charcoal expenses, on average more than $70 per year. They also save several hours per day from the reduced time needed for cooking and fuel collection.
• Replacing the traditional open three-stone fires with the Soutra Fourneau efficient cooking technology reduces health diseases and deaths linked from smoke-related illnesses (around the world, the use of primary stoves causes 4.3 million premature deaths annually and contributes to a range of chronic illnesses and acute health impacts).
• The project employs a staff of 15 people in the production facilities and can produce up to 2500 stoves a month.
• The project empowers women by giving them access to clean household cooking solutions that help them to reduce costs and save time.