Date established: 2000
Partner: PROLEÑA
Number of stoves built: 9,300
Types of stoves built: Eco-stoves
Program history: Since 2000, TWP has worked with PROLEÑA to introduce fuel-efficient, wood-burning stoves into Nicaragua. The Eco-stove helps reduce deforestation and improves the quality of women and children’s health by removing toxic smoke from the kitchen. The Eco-stove is made of metal and mass produced in a factory in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua. These stoves are then sold to individuals or to other organizations and governmental and development agencies.
Much like the Justa stove, the Eco-stove also reduces fuelwood consumption by 50-70%. Considering that 90% of the wood cut in Nicaragua is used for domestic or commercial energy, the introduction and diffusion of more of these efficient stoves will mean a tremendous savings on firewood and a significant reduction in deforestation.
The Eco-stove also removes toxic smoke from the kitchen. A traditional wood-burning cookstove burns large quantities of wood and produces toxic smoke, including carbon monoxide. This noxious smoke is a leading cause of acute respiratory infections (ARI), the second leading cause of infant mortality in Nicaragua. PROLEÑA found that more than 80% of the urban poor and more than 90% of the rural poor in Nicaragua still cook with firewood. Furthermore, PROLEÑA reports that "only 3% of our people here in Nicaragua who cook with firewood use an improved stove... that is a stove with an enclosed fire and a chimney." Our stove program is helping to remedy this situation while also reducing consumption of fuelwood.
The Pro-Tortilla Program
In 2004, TWP and PROLEÑA began the Pro-Tortilla program with the goal of improving the health, economic, and working conditions of small, women-owned tortilla and street vendor businesses in Nicaragua through the introduction of Eco-stoves. The program allows these women to purchase subsidized Eco-stoves to improve the profitability of their business and their family’s health, while also protecting the environment.
(Pro-Tortilla Program, con't) There are over 7,000 small businesses dedicated to the informal food industry in the three major urban centers of Nicaragua. These businesses are mainly small, women-owned, home-based operations that sell local fare such as tortillas, nacatamales, or soup. They operate on small profit margins and their largest expense is buying fuelwood.
In addition to the health impacts of using traditional stoves, wood consumption is also a major concern for these businesses because fuelwood purchases are their largest expenditure. These businesses consume an average of 12 tons of fuelwood a year in their inefficient, traditional stoves, contributing to small profit margins and to deforestation.
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Trees, Water & People is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to improve people's lives by helping communities to protect, conserve and manage the natural resources upon which their long-term well-being depends. | |||||
