• About
  • Our Work
  • Join
  • Partner
  • Media
EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Sign-up for monthly updates on Winrock's work around the world.

Courtesy JTI

WINROCK VOICES

Kids and Cookstoves

What do cookstoves have to do with reducing child labor? More than you might imagine.

  • SHARE:
  • Copy

Posted on November 30, 2016

lindsey_dwormanBy Lindsay Dworman

Last year, when members of Winrock’s child labor team in Malawi attended a workshop on fuel-efficient cookstoves organized by Winrock’s clean energy team, what their two projects had in common wasn’t necessarily obvious. What soon became clear, however, was that advancing one project’s goals helped achieve the other’s, and together they are having an even greater impact on Malawian families.

Since 2011, Winrock has been combating child labor in tobacco growing in Malawi, where poverty, lack of awareness and a struggling education system have combined to make life more difficult for the nation’s children. Achieving Reduction in Child Labor in Support of Education II (ARISE II) — a multi-year partnership among Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Winrock International and the International Labor Organization (ILO) ― helps eliminate and prevent child labor by addressing factors that drive smallholder farmers to employ children in tobacco growing.

20161129_kid_and_cookstove_4

A cookstove training in Malawi, where Winrock’s clean energy team has been working since 2012. Photo by Katie Gross.

In addition, Winrock’s clean energy team has been working since 2012 through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-funded Capacity Building and Technical Assistance on Clean and Efficient Cooking Practices project to build the capacity of organizations around the globe, including in Malawi, to reduce exposure to household air pollution. The project seeks to increase the use of clean, affordable and safe home cooking and heating practices, such as fuel-efficient cookstoves. The benefits are tremendous.

The chitetezo mbaula, a portable, clay, wood-burning stove, is a popular model in Malawi. It saves about 40 percent on firewood compared to an open fire, lasts up to two years, and retails for $1 to $2 USD, making it accessible in a country where 51 percent of people live in poverty. The cookstove’s design also significantly reduces smoke, reducing household air pollution and diminishing related health issues. The decreased demand for firewood also helps reduce deforestation, which has caused devastating floods, soil erosion and food insecurity in Malawi.

20161129_kid_and_cookstove_3

These cookstoves save about 40 percent on firewood, retail for $1 to $2 USD each, and significantly reduce household air pollution. Photo by Katie Gross.

So what do fuel-efficient cookstoves have to do with child labor? As Winrock’s ARISE project is showing us, quite a lot. Increasing access to economic opportunities for parents is a key component of Winrock’s approach to reducing child labor. One method is through ARISE’s Women’s Agribusiness Groups, which provide mothers from vulnerable families with training and initial capital investments for savings groups to develop their own businesses.

One of the businesses is Chitetezo mbaula cookstoves. Inexpensive to build and affordable to buy, the stoves are highly marketable, providing a sustainable source of income for families. The cookstoves also help address child labor in other ways. Women and children are responsible for collecting firewood, yet due to extensive deforestation they must travel increasingly long distances to gather it. This hurts women’s ability to run their businesses and children’s ability to attend school. By significantly reducing the need for firewood, the cookstoves give children ― especially girls ― more time for school.

Seeing connections across issue areas isn’t always easy. Yet as Winrock’s work in Malawi is proving, finding these connections may help us discover critical solutions to achieving our projects’ goals ― and then some.

20161129_kid_and_cookstove_1

By significantly reducing the need for firewood, which women and children collect, cookstoves give all children ― especially girls ― more time for school. Photo courtesy JTI.

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

FILTERS

RESET FILTERS

ARCHIVE

  • August 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • March 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • July 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
WinrockIntl
Tweets by @WinrockIntl
Follow @WinrockIntl

204 E 4th Street | North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114

ph +1 501 280 3000 | fx +1 501 280 3090

2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 700 | Arlington, Virginia 22202

ph +1 703 302 6500 | fx +1 703 302 6512

  • Contact
  • E-News Signup
  • Low Bandwidth
  • Code of Conduct
  • Winrock Privacy Statement
  • Site Map
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © 2015- Winrock International
DEV ENVIRONMENT