Madagascar Clean Cookstoves Project
Project Snapshot

Real climate action improving real lives

Reducing household emissions and improving livelihoods for communities in southern Madagascar.

Location

Madagascar

Project type

Household Devices

Project size

450,000 clean cookstoves distributed

Annual Projected Emissions Reductions

1,120,000 tCO2-e

The Challenge

Madagascar is the world’s fifth largest island, and is increasingly facing climate impacts, including declining rainfall, and more frequent extreme weather events such as droughts and cyclones. Nearly 80% of Madagascar's 30.45 million people live in extreme poverty, with many rural communities dependent on subsistence-level agriculture and local forest ecosystems for their livelihoods.

With the phase out of incentives from older managed forest investment schemes, rising production costs, difficult market conditions and attractive sale values, land is transitioning from carbon-sequestering plantations into to fallow or agricultural land.

92% of energy used in Malagasy households comes from the burning of wood and charcoal from local forests. This fuel is used for traditional cooking on ‘three-stone’ open fires – an energy-intensive cooking method that creates substantial carbon emissions; increases indoor air pollution from wood smoke; increases fire and smoke related health disorders for predominantly women and children, and contributes to deforestation across Madagascar.

Over the last two decades, rampant deforestation, a rapidly increasing population and expanding climate impacts, have reduced Madagascar’s tree cover by 25%. Most households have now lost access to local forest and fuelwood resources, forcing them instead to spend approximately 30% of their income on purchasing wood for cooking on open fires.

A man chops wood from a remnant forest area to sell to nearby villages.

A brown ruffed lemur looks out over her forest habitat.

Our solution

Since 2018 we’ve provided 450,000 households in 7703 villages with energy-efficient cookstoves, that reduce household fuel consumption by up to 70%, channelling income into other critical needs such as food, healthcare, education and clothing.

Our cookstoves are manufactured in two local factories, which provide 720 jobs across the full supply chain including manufacturing, distribution, monitoring and maintenance of the cookstoves, through to the leadership role played by local women’s groups who educate communities on the benefits of these cookstoves and making a behavioural change to a more climate-resilient future.

Locally employed women shaping portable cookstove bases at our factory in Fianarantsoa.

Cooking on a fixed cookstove complete with external chimney, built into the walls of the home.

Key Outcomes

Providing a family with a clean cookstove helps reduce firewood consumption, significantly reduces indoor air pollution and smoke-related health impacts and prevents fire hazards facing predominantly women and children in the home. Families are able to spend the money they've saved on other things like food, healthcare, education and clothing.

Climate Action
This project currently reduces approximately 1.12 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses each year, from the 450,000 fixed and portable cookstoves already distributed throughout southern Madagascar. We will continue to increase our impact as the project expands in coming months and years.

Community Development
Traditionally women manage the gathering of firewood cooking responsibilities, and with a clean cookstove in place these women are now able to spend more time with their families, and spend more time engaging in other economic activities that diversify their income and improve their quality of life. The project also supports increased economic activity, technology development, and cost savings from reduced firewood consumption.

Healthcare
Clean cookstoves improved indoor air quality as they reduce smoke and smoke-related health issues. This project supports these outcomes at scale, and also reduce other fire-related hazards and health issues.

Conservation Impact
Reduced carbon emissions from declining firewood consumption supports environmental preservation and natural recovery of forests and local ecosystem services.

Typical rice field-covered hills and valleys of central Madagascar.

Geography

Our project regions in central and southern Madagascar are dominated by hills and valleys with minor river systems winding through. The majority of the landscape has been converted to subsistence-level farming of rice fields, bean and other food crops, and grazing for village livestock, leaving the landscape dry and covered in low shrubs. Many villages hug the few main roads crossing the landscape, with the majority of villages spread out and accessible by dirt tracks or on foot.

CTA Background

Make your climate action count.

If we are to reach net zero by 2050, we need to act now, act right and act together. We’re always looking for our next partner.