Overview of the project

The production and vulgarization of the cooker bag in rural households of the South West, Littoral and West regions of Cameroon. The project is to the subsidized dissemination of Heat Retention Cookers to rural and peri-urban households who rely on fuelwood as a primary source of cooking energy. Its goal is to alleviate energy poverty, to improve the health and the lifestyle of the poor. Then, it also enables the reduction of the deforestation (mangroves, forest and savannah ecosystems), and therefore the protection of the natural ecosystem of the targeted regions – the South West, Littoral and West regions of Cameroon.

This involved a pilot phase which entailed sensitization of the local population, identifying interested persons and assessing the fuelwood consumption in 480 households before, and during the use of the bag. The results of these assessments were used to establish a baseline on the fuelwood saving potentials of the bag within households in these regions and hence smoke reduction into the atmosphere. The potential socioeconomic and ecological benefits of the bag were also established. The project is presently at its implementation phase envisaging the distribution of 6000 bags in 6000 household within these regions.