GHANA EFFICIENT CHARCOAL COOK STOVES
Location(s)
Accra, Tamale Ghana
Project Funding Date(s)
November 2011
Total Funds Disbursed
$9,275
Total Beneficiaries
Approximately 1470 people
Project Delivery Partner
Not Applicable
Local Partner / Organization
Project Description
Throughout the food markets in Ghana, most of the vendors tend to use traditional charcoal cook stoves to cook and prepare their food products for sale. Such traditional cook stoves are not very efficient in their heat retention, and therefore, use large amounts of charcoal, which is costly to the vendors and further leads to deforestation and CO2 emissions.
energy4everyone partnered with IFL, a Ghanaian micro-finance institution, to distribute energy efficient charcoal cook stoves to interested vendors.
The project was structured as a micro-finance subsidy project. This approach has two main benefits. Firstly, it improves the sustainability of the project and the equipment as beneficiaries have a greater motivation to continue to use the equipment. Secondly, funds that are repaid by the beneficiaries will be made available for future project phases. In effect, the initial funds disbursed act as a form of endowment.
Positive Impact
The third phase of the project distributed cook stoves to various vendors at markets throughout the capital city of Accra and the city of Tamale in the north of the country. In total, 245 vendors received 300 efficient cook stoves, with 141 distributed in Accra and 159 in Tamale. The efficient cook stoves burn 40% less charcoal than traditional cook stoves due to a ceramic liner that retains heat. This allows the beneficiaries to save money because they consume and purchase less charcoal. In addition, the reduced charcoal consumption results in reduced CO2 emissions and, indirectly, reduces deforestation.
