Over 700 million people in Africa – including 15 million Zambians – rely on wood or charcoal fuel for cooking. Burning wood fuel for cooking on traditional open fires is incredibly inefficient and dangerous. The smoke – or household air pollution – from open fires causes 600,000 deaths a year in Africa, and is the second-highest health risk on  the continent. Switching to efficient stoves could prevent over 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions a year, however most families can’t afford to buy them. 

In 3 years, TASC has distributed over 100,000 improved cookstoves (ICS) in Zambia. We are now earning carbon credits certified by the Gold Standard Foundation for monitoring their use. Our projects are in Chongwe, a peri-urban area near Lusaka, and Katete, a rural province in the east of the country.  Our target users, or customers, use traditional three stone, open fires for cooking. We replace the open fires with ICS that are designed to burn wood fuel more efficiently. The Burn Kunikoa stoves that we distribute in Zambia reduce wood fuel use by approximately 70% per household, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by up to 6 tonnes per household per year. The stoves’ higher combustion efficiency reduces smoke by an estimated 60%, which dramatically reduces incidents of respiratory illness amongst the women and children that are historically most exposed to household air pollution.

Distribution starts with sensitization, which is the dissemination of information about the proposed project to local communities. Sensitisation starts with community authorities and, later, continues in sensitisation meetings with the eventual customers and users of the stoves.

After sensitisation, TASC staff distribute stoves, using a proprietary data management system to obtain data required for the project registration and monitoring. Customers also sign an End User Agreement, confirming that TASC can return to monitor stove usage and sell carbon credits that it earns by doing so.

TASC’s two improved cookstove projects in Zambia are forecast to operate until 2027 and to avoid over 4.4 million tonnes of CO₂.