Better Life in Indigenous Villages in Bolivia due to Solar and Efficient Cook Stoves

Project type: Solar , Efficient cook stoves

Project location: Bolivia

Project status: Completed, no credits available

Annual emission reduction of the whole project: 3,300 t

The programme intends to reduce carbon emissions, improve health, and reduce stress placed on forestry resources in Bolivia through the replacement of inefficient wood burning stoves with high efficiency rocket stoves or solar cookers in three departments of Bolivia.

Local woman showing her new high efficiency rocket stove.

Felicidad Orellana, Cochabamba district, is cooking on a climate friendly cook stove since a few years.

Angelina Orellana, Cochabamba district: „I cook everything with the solar cooker. In the old kitchen there was a lot of smoke. 10 years ago there was enough wood around the house for cooking. Now the wood is far away.“

It takes Angelina Orellana half a day and a donkey to get the far away firewood. Photo credits: myclimate / Sávio Abi-Zaid

The solar cookers are produced locally with local materials. So people trust them and jobs have been created.

David Whitfield founder of the nonprofit organisation CEDESOL with newly fabricated solar cookers.

A solar cooker works like an oven. Corn can be refined by up to 180 degree Celsius not using any wood the whole day.

Demonstration event of the high efficient cook stove and heat-retention basket (blue). Heat-retention baskets (e.g. isolated with Lama wool) help to keep the meals warm until the evening (if cooked with the solar cooker).

The main objective of this Programme of Activity is to improve the livelihood and the environment of both peri-urban and rural populations in Bolivia by placing 1122 ecological stoves in households reducing 25,500 t CO₂ over the programme period.

This programme specifically aims to: improve the livelihood of families, by saving the local population the purchase and/or the tiresome gathering of firewood; improve the health of the families by reducing the families’ exposure to unhealthy air particles created when using traditional wood stoves in the kitchen, therefore achieving a reduction in pulmonary illness mainly in women and children and the prevention of burn injuries in the kitchen; improve the use of people’s time by freeing up time which can be utilized for other activities therefore improving quality of life; improve the eating habits of families by making a modification of the cooking habits through sensitization and training programs that demonstrate the various uses of the ecological stoves and educating the families on hygiene, sanitation, food preparation, kitchen organization and the environment; and improve the environment by reducing CO₂ emissions, air pollution from wood fires and deforestation.

I am using a lot less wood now. Just a little firewood to get the food to boil and then I place it into the solar cooker. I have 2-3 hours to weave while the food cooks. The solar cooker help me to increase my income.

Felicidad Orellana, Cochabamba district

In Bolivia, myclimate's program partner - the non-profit organization CEDESOL - is responsible for implementation. With the help of funds from myclimate’s climate protection financing, it makes these ovens available to the population and helps to implement the programme on a reasonable scale. Furthermore, it is expected that over the next seven years the design of the programme will guarantee its sustainability and expansion to other areas of Bolivia and Paraguay.

This project contributes to 9 SDGs (as of end 2022):

Find out how myclimate reports these SDGs in our FAQ.

The following SDGs are verified by the Gold Standard:

There is a perception in the families of savings in time and money since the installation of the ecological stove.

4,500 people have benefited from better air quality since the start of the project and there are less visits to the medical facilities.

832 people have completed the Modular Environmental Training.

41 innovative leaders were trained.

814 domestic rocket stoves installed, 18 commercial/institutional rocket stoves and 290 solar stoves installed. 4500 people benefit from these new efficient and clean technology.