U.S.-based social enterprise Envirofit International has announced it will join the UN-supported anti-poverty program Business Call to Action (BCtA), with plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 193,500 tons of carbon through the sales of 150,000 clean cookstoves across Kenya in the next two years.Envirofit International is a multinational corporation that develops and disseminates technologies aimed at reducing pollution and enhancing energy efficiency in developing countries. By introducing clean cook stoves as a less costly fuel alternative, the company says it will help low-income consumer households that have been traditionally overlooked.
U.S.-based social enterprise Envirofit International has announced it will join the UN-supported anti-poverty program Business Call to Action (BCtA), with plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 193,500 tons of carbon through the sales of 150,000 clean cookstoves across Kenya in the next two years.
Envirofit International is a multinational corporation that develops and disseminates technologies aimed at reducing pollution and enhancing energy efficiency in developing countries. By introducing clean cook stoves as a less costly fuel alternative, the company says it will help low-income consumer households that have been traditionally overlooked.
In Kenya, an estimated 95 percent of the rural population relies on biomass for a cooked meal, and 63 percent of households are still using basic cookstoves, Envirofit says. The company partnered with cookware provider Kaluworks to improve production, supply chain, business development and increase sustainable revenue. All of this is aimed at helping to meet the national demand in reducing climate pollutants and to help facilitate economic growth.
Envirofit says its cookstoves are engineered not only to be high quality, but also affordable for emerging market consumers, costing the equivalent of one to three weeks wages. With enhanced fuel efficiency, the stoves pay for themselves in less than six months.
“This new commitment with the BCtA will further Envirofit’s broad range of targets to meet the needs of the growing Kenyan marketplace,” said Sahba Sobhani, Acting Program Manager at Business Call to Action. “We are confident that Envirofit’s focus and rigorous training will help promote behavioral change to reach more consumers and reduce harmful emissions.”
Envirofit says it plans to leverage its network of community partners to reach more households and scale-up its model focused on creating a market for improved cookstoves across Latin America, India and Africa.
Envirofit says it has partnered with local microfinance groups to help low-income customers to purchase stoves and is working to build a strong sales force, meet distribution challenges and promote its women’s empowerment training program to integrate women in the cookstove value chain. The company’s new global carbon program will help offset and subsidize the cost of cookstoves to make them more affordable to end users.
Envirofit also is expanding its product line to include a new institutional stove model, which will boil 75 liters of water in less than 50 minutes, while reducing fuel consumption and cost by up to 80 percent. The company says it also plans to expand across Western Africa in the near future.
In April, BCtA announced a set of commitments to provide income-earning opportunities and expand access to services such as mobile technology and micro-insurance to disadvantaged populations in Africa and Asia. This includes programs aimed at expanding access to financial services in Zambia, providing affordable microinsurance in Malaysia and helping honey farmers in Kenya.
Published Nov 4, 2013 12am EST / 9pm PST / 5am GMT / 6am CET
Managing Director, Sustainability & Social Impact
Deutsche Bank
Mike Hower is a sustainability communicator and connector committed to helping purpose-driven businesses and people unlock their full potential for positive impact. As founder and principal consultant at Hower Impact, he works with companies to translate sustainability strategy into stories that inform, engage and inspire investors, customers, employees, regulators and other stakeholders in the service of social, environmental and business goals. Through his Impact Hired initiative, he works to connect and engage corporate sustainability professionals at all stages of their careers.
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