Project Overview
Across Somalia, nearly every household relies on charcoal or firewood for cooking—fueling deforestation and exposing families to harmful indoor air pollution. This project distributes BURN’s Jikokoa high-efficiency charcoal stoves, among the world’s most fuel-efficient, to households in Somalia’s cities and towns.
By replacing traditional three-stone fires or inefficient stoves, families reduce fuel use by more than half. The result is cleaner kitchens, healthier families, lower household expenses, and significant climate benefits.
The project is registered with the Gold Standard for the Global Goals and will run from 2019 to 2032. Credits are issued ex post (only after results are independently verified).
Key Benefits
1. Climate Impact
- Fewer trees cut for charcoal: As of the most recent monitoring period, ~175,000 stoves have been distributed, with a conservative 90% active use rate.
- Each stove reduces fuel needs by ~2 tonnes of biomass per year, meaning ~315,000 tonnes of wood avoided annually.
- Over the project’s 13-year span, this translates into ~4 million tonnes of biomass saved and corresponding CO₂e reductions, verified under the Gold Standard methodology.
2. Health Improvements
- Traditional stoves expose families—especially women and children—to dense smoke linked to respiratory illness.
- Studies of the Jikokoa stove show ~65% reductions in indoor air pollution exposure, sharply lowering risks of chronic and acute respiratory disease.
- With Somalia experiencing an estimated 16,000 premature deaths annually from household air pollution, these improvements are lifesaving.
3. Household Economics
- Families typically spend up to $50/month on charcoal. By cutting fuel needs in half, Jikokoa households save around $32 per month (~$384 per year).
- With ~157,000 households using the stoves today, this equals ~$60 million in annual savings—a transformative impact in a country where most people live on less than $2.15/day.
- Over the project life, families are expected to save over $750 million collectively.
4. Community & Development
- Lives impacted: With an average of six family members per household, over 1 million Somalis are already benefitting.
- Time savings: More efficient stoves mean millions of hours saved in cooking and fuel collection, freeing time for school, childcare, or income-generating work.
- Employment & skills: The project creates local jobs in distribution, sales, training, and monitoring, alongside skills development in clean energy.
Why This Project Matters
Somalia has one of the world’s lowest rates of clean cooking access (96% of households lack it) and among the highest rates of deforestation. This project is the only cookstove carbon project operating in the country today, channeling climate finance into a fragile and underserved region.
By purchasing credits from this project, you are helping to:
- Cut carbon emissions from inefficient cooking practices
- Protect forests in a climate-vulnerable region
- Improve health for women and children exposed to smoke
- Strengthen communities with jobs, skills, and savings
Every credit represents one tonne of CO₂e avoided, independently verified under the Gold Standard—and every purchase supports a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable future for Somali families.
