Stoves for Community Development in Guatemala | 2017

World Centric + Trees, Water & People

$26,800.00 from profits from fiscal year 2017
Carbon Offsets Project

In Guatemala, 64% of women cook with wood or charcoal over open fires, and over 2500 die prematurely each year (along with 1200 children) from exposure to smoke. Demand for firewood drives them to spend up to 20 hours each week gathering it from denuded landscapes farther and farther from their homes--representing an opportunity cost and tragic, intergenerational poverty trap. These problems can be addressed through efficient, durable, locally-made cookstoves and training.

The Impact

125 cookstoves, benefitting 687 members of the community

Indirect Impact:

• Local, Guatemalan company Estufa Doña Dora will benefit financially, supporting the local economy with 3 living-wage jobs.
• Economic improvements due to fuel saved is equal to $108.50 annually per person
• Health improvements from reducing smoke inhalation.
• Less time spent gathering fuel and cooking allows women more control over how their time is spent.
• Environmental improvements by slowing the rate of deforestation and reducing carbon emissions.

The Approach

In 2011, TWP began our partneringwith Utz Ché (meaning “good tree” in the Mayan language K’iche’), a Guatemalan NGO that represents over 36 indigenous community organizations dedicated to sustainable management of their forests, water sources, and other natural resources. With the help of Utz Ché, clean cookstoves drastically reduce the amount of wood needed to prepare each meal and remove deadly pollutants from the home. Guatemalan families help build their own clean cookstoves, using local materials and local people to complete every project.

TWP utilizes cookstoves from Estufa Doña Dora, a social enterprise located in Quetzaltenango, the country’s second largest city, that builds ‘plancha’ type griddle stove

About Trees, Water & People

A World Centric partner since 2015.

Trees, Water & People's mission is to improve people's lives by helping communities protect, conserve, and manage the natural resources upon which their long-term well-being depends.TWP's unique community-based development model was founded on the philosophy that the best way to help those most in need is to involve them directly in the design and implementation of local environmental and economic development initiatives.

More projects with Trees, Water & People:

• Stoves, Cisterns & Trees for San Jose De Comayagua, Honduras
• Planting Seeds for Conservation in El Salvador