Project details
1044 · Improved cookstoves
  • Countrywide, Tanzania
Improved life quality with clean cookstovesOver three quarters of all households in Tanzania cook by the simplest means – with three stones on an open fire or on substandard stoves which are dangerous into the bargain. Time and again, small children injure themselves by stumbling into the fire. And illnesses caused by the smoke in the houses are a perpetual, serious health threat, causing 18,900 deaths a year. The current deforestation is already threatening Tanzania’s natural ecosystems: more wood is being cut down than can grow back. Clean, efficient cooking stoves are a simple solution to these problems. They consume 60 percent less fuel, produce markedly less smoke and halve the number of cases of pneumonia. The families save a great deal of time that they would otherwise spend looking for firewood. They thus conserve the forest and avoid producing unnecessary CO2 emissions.
How improved cookstoves contribute to climate action

According to a statistic from the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) around a third of the global population still relies on un­safe and environmentally harmful cooking methods. This includes, for example, cooking over open fires or using polluting cooking fuels, such as coal or kerosene. Improved cookstoves tackle this problem by using thermal energy more efficiently. Depending on the model, an improved cookstove can reduce fuel consumption by up to 70 percent, which significantly saves CO2 emissions and can lower the pressure on local forests as less firewood needs to be harvested.

Improved cookstove projects allow the distribution of the - often simple - devices made from metal or clay to households, small enterprises or community facilities. Especially for households, this has an impact beyond the CO2 reduction: better indoor air quality decreases respiratory diseases and families can save time and money as less fuel is needed. Improved cookstoves projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.

Contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
No PovertyThe stoves are simple and long-lasting and have a five-year guarantee. They are cheap to buy thanks to climate protection financing, so that even poor families can afford them. Each family saves up to 300 dollars a year, as they need less firewood and have fewer health-related expenses.
Good Health and Well-Being80 percent less smoke is produced in the houses and there are 50 percent fewer cases of pneumonia.
Gender EqualitySmoke pollution from cooking on an open fire affects women and children above all, but thanks to the clean cooking stoves they are exposed to considerably less smoke. Women and children only spend half as much time looking for firewood and cooking – time that is now available to them for attending school and for working to earn their own income.
Affordable and Clean EnergyFamilies need 60 percent less fuel
Decent Work and Economic GrowthSmall companies that produce and sell the cooking stoves are subsidised: so far, 118 jobs have been created
Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureThe dissemination of modern technology for cooking stoves in Tanzania
Reduced InequalitiesTime-saving and financial relief for the poorest sector of the population
Responsible Consumption and Productionn/a
Climate ActionOn average, each stove saves one ton of fuel and thus 2.27 ton of CO2 every year
Life on LandEvery year, 34,500 fewer tons of firewood are cut down, thus preserving a total of 525,000 trees
Project standardGold Standard VER (GS VER)TechnologyImproved cookstovesRegionCountrywide, TanzaniaEstimated annual emission reductions92,933 t CO2Verified byCarbon Check (India) Private Ltd.