Female power in Malawi

Project goal: Protecting forests and securing incomes for women

Project size: 321 cooperatives produce 30,000 energy-efficient stoves each year

Climate target: reducing carbon emissions by 1.5 tons each year

Project turnover: 540,000 Euros (around $752,000) each year due to emissions trading certificates

More than 90 percent of Malawi’s rural population cook over open fires, using firewood or charcoal. Not only does that contribute to deforestation, but the fumes are also highly toxic. New energy-efficient stoves, developed in Malawi, based on a Kenyan design, offer an alternative. They consume nearly half the firewood that conventional stoves use, requiring fewer trees to be cut. And they’re also easier on the wallets of most Malawians and emit less smoke. A women’s project in Malawi is now aiming to make the energy-efficient stoves widely available. The women are responsible for making the stoves, as well as marketing and selling them.

A film by Thomas Mandlmeier