What We Do

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The Issue

Approximately 3 billion people globally rely on charcoal and firewood to cook with detrimental effects on health, the environment and the climate. In Kenya, over 70% of households in cook with dirty fuels – kerosene, charcoal, and firewood with detrimental effects on health, climate and the environment.

Socially, relying on these dirty and inefficient fuels disproportionately affects women and girls, who bear the primary responsibility and drudgery of cooking with these fuels. Clean, safe, accessible, reliable and affordable cooking solutions are needed urgently.

Dirty fuels continue to dominate in Kenya notably charcoal and kerosene. Firewood is prevalent in rural Kenya leading to devastating impacts.

Health

Over 20,000 deaths annually are currently attributable to indoor air pollution (IAP), and many thousands more Kenyans lose their lives due unquantified consequences of Indoor Air Pollution and other harms like kerosene burns and poisonings.

Environment

Kenya loses 10.3 million m3 of wood from its forests every year from firewood and charcoal consumption, a major contributor to the country’s 0.3% annual deforestation rate.

Climate Change

Black Carbon emissions contribute 25 million tonnes of CO2 eq. each year, approximately ~40% of Kenya’s total GHG emissions

Equality

Wood and charcoal cooking leads to approximately 1 hour lost for urban women while their rural counterparts can spend over four hours considering wood collection. This is a time burden that can be avoided with efficient clean cooking fuels and stoves.

Adopting clean-burning stoves and fuels will transform both urban and rural communities by improving livelihoods and health while protecting the climate and the environment significantly reducing drudgery on women and children