Developing Nations to Get Clean-Burning Stoves

Nearly three billion people in the developing world cook their meals on primitive indoor stoves fueled by crop waste, wood, coal and dung. Every year, smoke from these stoves kills 1.9 million people, mostly women and children, from lung and heart diseases and low birth weight.  This indoor air pollution is the fourth greatest health risk factor in developing countries, after clean water, unsafe sex, and undernourishment.  The stoves also contribute to global warming as a result of the millions of tons of soot they spew into the atmosphere and the deforestation caused by cutting down trees to fuel them.


In September of 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her commitment to a group working to address the problem, with a goal of providing 100 million clean-burning stoves to villages in Africa, Asia and South America by 2020. The United States is providing about $50 million in seed money over five years for the project, known as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.


I believe that this project could create an entrepreneurial framework in which small, local companies take into consideration local fuel choices, food consumption patters, and methods of cooking before investing in the efficient stoves.  The project could not only provide business opportunities for women, but also reduce women and children's need to forage for fuels, which keeps millions of children out of school.  This issue affects health, women's status, and the environment: I'm glad something is being done to alleviate pressure in all three of these areas of international concern! Like Ms. Clinton said, "Something had to be done."


The original New York Times article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/science/earth/21stove.html