Commercialization of Improved Cook Stoves for Reduced Indoor Air Pollution in Urban Slums of Northwest Bangladesh

Beginning in 2003, the energy team of USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, and the environmental health team of the Bureau for Global Health jointly supported a cooperative agreement with Winrock International to develop models to reduce indoor air pollution by combining fuel-efficient cooking technologies with behavior change messages and market-based distribution mechanisms.

Beginning in 2003, the energy team of USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, and the environmental health team of the Bureau for Global Health jointly supported a cooperative agreement with Winrock International to develop models to reduce indoor air pollution by combining fuel-efficient cooking technologies with behavior change messages and market-based distribution mechanisms. Winrock developed a peri-urban model piloted in Bangladesh for poor households. The objective of the pilot project was to reduce indoor air pollution and fuel consumption via the dissemination and commercialization of efficient cook stoves among peri-urban communities through an integrated and sustainable household energy intervention. The project aimed to establish a sustainable market for improved and appropriate stoves to avoid the need for subsidies, either current or future.