Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Envirofit Kenya is a social enterprise that brings clean cooking solutions to Kenyan households so that they can enjoy the financial savings and socioeconomic benefits that our technology offers, whilst mitigating the climate impact of household cooking. Envirofit Kenya is attached to Envirofit International in the US, which has a state-of-the-art lab dedicated to developing the most advanced cooking technologies for base of the pyramid households. Envirofit Kenya offers clean cooking charcoal and wood-burning stoves, as well a pioneering SmartGas solution, for metered pay-as-you-cook gas. Products range from portable household stoves to institutional stoves for schools and communal eating facilities.

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Our project is deliberately aimed at working with women, youth, people of colour, and disadvantaged families to take leadership of the climate movement. 


Families, mostly women and children, who cook with traditional methods either spend up to four hours each day gathering fuel, or spend up to 30% of their income purchasing fuel for cooking, lighting, and heating. By using an Envirofit stove, they reduce their fuel requirements by at least 60%, reducing the time and expense of buying fuel ‚ thus an immediate cost reduction and cash-flow improvement at the household level. For those families who purchase fuel an Envirofit stove can save a family over $300 a year in fuel expenses. Toxic emissions are decreased by up to 80%, noticeably alleviating painful coughing and watery, burning eyes. Women whose households cook with clean and efficient cookstoves have a significantly lower probability of chronic or acute diseases and are more likely to report better health. 

With the current economic situation most Kenyans are facing, with reduced income and drastically increased economic uncertainty due to the continuing pandemic, even the smallest of financial savings are to be appreciated, and so there is a great need for low-income families to adopt more energy-efficient cooking technologies to be able to enjoy these savings. In addition, as society becomes more aware of the role that we all play in the protection of our environment and our forest coverage, there is increased demand for cleaner alternatives to traditional products. The decision to purchase a cookstove in a Kenyan household is usually down to the woman, and we are therefore putting the control, and climate mitigation power in the hands of Kenyan women. 

Much of the work done to promote clean cooking practices and technologies through our partner networks is done by young men and women, unemployed youth, who we support through our distribution partners, so that they can earn an income from the sale of our products. We provide marketing materials, last-mile logistics, and training to our distribution partners, including youth empowerment programs, women‚ groups, and community-led initiatives. 

Because we are based in East Africa, the communities we work in are almost exclusively made up of people of colour. We primarily work with communities that are low-income, and disadvantaged because of low education and employment rates. This is a deliberate choice, as it is these communities that spend the largest proportion of their income on fuel for cooking and lighting (21% on average), and who stand to gain the most from transitioning to cleaner cooking technologies, and the reduced spending, reduced health risks, and exposure to particulate matter and indoor air pollution.

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