The Problem

Cooking on a traditional biomass stove leads to a multitude of problems...

Public health

2.6 billion people worldwide depend on solid fuels for cooking. Walk into one of their homes, and the need for clean-burning cookstoves immediately becomes apparent. As a woman cooks over a traditional fire, she and her children breathe air thick with smoke. Indoor air pollution is responsible for four million deaths per year. The smoke inhaled in homes like these is equivalent to two packs of cigarettes per day. For these families, there is no alternative; breathing toxic air is the only way to eat.

Prakti stoves reduce indoor air pollution (CO, Particulate Matter) by up to 95 percent, allowing people in income levels 1 and 2 to live dramatically cleaner and healthier lives without changing the foods they eat, their cooking methods, or the fuels they use.

Environment

Across the globe, dependence on wood and charcoal for cooking leads to rapid deforestation. Countries that were once home to thriving forest ecosystems are now turning to deserts, seeing an increased rate of landslides and the disappearance of fertile land. Women must choose between walking increasingly long distances to gather enough wood or spending a significant portion of their family’s income on purchasing fuel brought in a convenient location. Simultaneously, cooking using these fuels releases black carbon, a leading contributor to climate change.

Prakti stoves reduce fuel consumption and mitigate harmful emissions like black carbon. We offer wood, charcoal, and biomass briquette stoves to accommodate the needs of different markets and reduce the negative environmental impact of traditional cooking in every region.

Women empowerment

Women bear the brunt of the negative impacts of traditional cooking. Often forced to gather their fuel for cooking, they can spend hours each day walking to find wood and carry it home. Cooking over a three-stone fire, women inhale harmful smoke that can cause a myriad of lung and heart issues.

Prakti stoves have already improved women's lives worldwide and have the massive potential to save even more lives. Our stoves use less fuel than traditional fires, saving women time and energy usually spent gathering wood. Generating up to 80 percent less smoke allows women to avoid the myriad detrimental health impacts of traditional cooking.

Prakti also empowers women outside the home. We are helping create a new generation of female entrepreneurs by training women to assemble and sell our stoves.

Household economics

Many of the 2.6 billion people who rely on solid fuels for cooking spend up to a third of their income purchasing fuel. With continuously disappearing forests and diminishing access to wood sources, the numbers of those forced to buy their fuel are only increasing. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, charcoal production is a $10 billion industry.

By reducing fuel consumption, Prakti stoves offer dramatic cost savings to users. Families can purchase significantly less wood or charcoal without altering their cooking methods or fuel. Institutions like schools, restaurants, and hospitals can save money on wood, accruing significant amounts of savings.