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project focus
Mexico: Improved Cookstoves
Globally, nearly three billion people use solid fuels on traditional stoves
or open fires for cooking and space heating. The Global Burden of
Disease Study 2010 estimates that exposure to smoke from cooking is
the fourth worst risk factor for disease in developing countries1. Based in
the country’s poorest rural states, the project makes efficient cookstoves
affordable to low-income households, reducing fuel use by as much as
60% and reducing exposure to harmful indoor air pollution.
Project type: Cookstoves
Region: Latin America
Standards:
Improved access: The efficient
cookstoves are made affordable
to low-income households.
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The project
The high-quality, affordable plancha wood
stoves which are sold by the project have
been specifically designed to be locally
appropriate for the communities in Mexico
and replace inefficient, traditional, threestone fires. Exposure to cookstove smoke
causes more premature deaths globally than
malaria or tuberculosis and many more suffer
non-fatal illnesses. The stove burns firewood
more effectively to reduce incomplete
combustion and the subsequent indoor air
pollution, which is mainly carbon monoxide
and particulate matter.
Carbon finance helps to build the project’s
capacity for production, sales and marketing
and installation of the improved cookstoves.
The sale of carbon credits means the stove
is kept at an affordable price for low-income
households, allowing for expansion of the
project across the country.
On average five hours
per week are saved for
women who use the
fuel-efficient cookstove.
The project is implemented with the support
of HELPS International, a charity which
reduces poverty and improves education
and healthcare through distribution of this
type of product. HELPS conducts training
and educational community meetings
when stoves are installed, giving users the
opportunity to give feedback and raise
concerns. In addition, there are follow-up
meetings four to six weeks after installation to
address any technical or adoption problems.
Contribution to
sustainable development
The project contributes to sustainable
development in several key areas:
Health & well-being
The project distributes stoves with chimneys
which are designed to reduce the levels
of indoor air pollution. This significantly
reduces the respiratory illnesses of women
and children who are the most frequently
exposed. The Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves estimates that there are 4,300
avoidable deaths from indoor air pollution
in Mexico each year2. The stove also has
an enclosed fire chamber which improves
household safety by reducing burn risk.
Empowering women
The efficient fuel burning of the stove
reduces the time needed for cooking,
allowing women to participate in other
activities and spend more time with family.
Energy access
The stove requires as much as 60% less
fuel than traditional methods which means
time spent collecting wood is reduced;
on average five hours per week can be
saved3. This time can be allocated to other
activities and the widespread distribution of
the fuel-efficient stove ensures the majority
of the population has access to this time
and cost-efficient technology.
An enclosed fire
chamber improves
household safety
by reducing burn
risks to women
and children
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local areas. The revenue stream from the
sale of carbon credits enables the price of
the stove to be kept at an affordable level for
low income homes which will in turn enable
the project to expand through the country.
Job creation
The project helps to combat local and
national unemployment with the creation of
10 permanent roles in stove manufacturing.
A further 30 roles ensure that households
have access to after sales support as well as
enabling widespread distribution, installation,
monitoring and transport of the stoves.
The region
The poorest regions in
the country are around
the south, including
states such as Guerrero,
Oaxaca and Chiapas,
where the project is
making sales.
Financial security
The revenue stream from the sale of carbon
credits enables the price of the stove to be
kept at an affordable level for low-income
homes which will enable the project to
continue to expand through the country.
The cookstoves design also decreases the
share of the household income spent on fuel
which improves domestic financial security.
Each stove is estimated to save 2,800kg
of fire wood per year and each kg is priced
between US $0.01 and US $0.40.
Biodiversity protection
Roughly 80% of wood harvested in Mexico
is non-renewable, demonstrating highly
unsustainable forest use in the country.
Decreasing fuel wood use through this type
of fuel-efficient project eases the burden
of overuse on forests and subsequently
decreases deforestation rates.
Economic growth
Carbon finance is used to help develop
the project’s capacity for production
and economic growth with cookstoves
being manufactured in Mexico and
Guatemala and assembled in the
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T +44 (0)20 7833 6000
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Despite recent economic prosperity and
Mexico’s rise into its current middle income
country status, in 2012 over 60% of people
in rural areas were living below the national
poverty line according to World Bank data4.
With a rural population estimated at 25
million, more than 15 million are living with
less than US $5 per day.
The typical wage in the communities
impacted by the project is between US $6
and US $10 per day, however, the majority
of employment in the region is typically
temporary and short term.
Location
By the end of 2013, more than 30,000 stoves
had been sold in south and central Mexico,
with a particular focus on the states of
Oaxaca and Guanajuato. However, sales have
also already been made in nine other states.
Global Disease Burden (2010) Published Mar-2013,
http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/gbd/
visualizations/gbd-arrow-diagram, accessed 25/11/2013
2
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (2014) Mexico Market
Assessment, http://www.cleancookstoves.org/resources_files/
mexico-market-sector-mapping.pdf, accessed 18/02/2014
3
A field survey conducted by HELPS in Mexico
4
World Bank (2012) Poverty headcount ratio at rural poverty
line (% of rural population), http://data.worldbank.org/
indicator/SI.POV.RUHC, accessed 02/04/2014
1
New York: 475 Park Avenue South,
23rd Floor, New York, NY 10016 USA
T +1-646-367-5800
[email protected]