Over 3 billion people still cook over polluting fires, a major contributor to carbon emissions. Household air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death and disability, ahead of unsafe water and lack of sanitation, causing more deaths than Malaria, HIV and TB combined. Clean cookstoves are vital to tackle both global challenges.
Rwanda is one of the world’s poorest countries but its economy is growing. The government is committed to fairness, raising the prosperity of all levels of society. Enlightened policies around gender equality mean that over half their parliament are women and they are leading the way with a tough climate action plan which places environment and climate change at the heart of the government’s decision making.
The DelAgua Tubeho Neza project has been running since 2012, in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, providing free, innovative, high performance stoves. DelAgua’s project will benefit 2 million rural households. So far over 600,000 stoves have been distributed, helping 3 million Rwandans. Our project is funded by the sale of carbon credits. Purchasing a credit gives you the unique opportunity to make a real impact on both climate change and the health and wellbeing of the Rwandan families who receive our stoves.
Here’s how:
Each DelAgua stove cuts carbon emissions, reduces deforestation, improves health, delivers gender benefits, develops skills and preserves wildlife habitats.
The stove uses 50% less wood
Each stove reduces carbon emissions by 10 tons over its 5- year life. On project completion we will be saving 4 million tons annually, that’s the equivalent of taking all the cars off London’s streets.
Women spend up to 5 hours a day gathering wood and tending the fire. Our stove uses half the amount of wood and cooks much more efficiently so women are freed from the fire and their time poverty is reduced. Women can use this time to cultivate crops, improve yields, develop micro businesses and socialise.
Children miss school because they spend up to 3 hours daily gathering wood. This time is reduced so children are able to attend class, get the education they need and be with their friends.
The stove burns cleanly producing little smoke. Household air pollution is cut by 73% which reduces smoke inhalation and hugely benefits the health of women and children who disproportionately suffered.
Deforestation is reduced. In Rwanda, known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills”, this means fewer floods, landslides, soil erosion and crops ruined. Keeping trees in the ground also promotes CO2 capture.
Critical wildlife habitats are preserved, including those of Rwanda’s iconic and endangered Mountain Gorillas.
By offsetting your annual carbon footprint with credits from DelAgua’s project, you are directly contributing to funding the purchase of more stoves and the goal of providing a free stove to all of Rwanda’s 2 million rural households.