Cook Smart Africa – by Empower Through Health

Empower Through Health is a global health institute and healthcare provider based in rural Uganda. We are establishing Cook Smart Africa, a subsidiary company which will manufacture and distribute improved cookstoves (ICS) in Eastern Uganda. ICS’s are not widely available in the region and 94% of the rural population in Uganda relies on open fires. This cooking technology has many negative impacts on the lives and environment of users. Our ICS program will produce the following benefits:

1. Improved Health: ICS greatly reduces smoke and burns in living spaces.
2. Increased Financial Stability: ICS uses ⅓ fuel of open fire →  lowers fuel costs.
3. Empowering Women: ICS reduces time needed to cook and collect fuel →  women have more time for other activities.
4. Decreased Deforestation: ICS uses ⅓ fuel of open fire → reduced need for wood.
5. Decreased Emissions: ICS reduces ~2.5 tons of CO2 emissions per stove each year. 

The current lack of ICS supply in the region presents our organization with the opportunity to become leaders in the ICS market. We will also generate revenue through the sale of carbon credits in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), based on the reduction of CO2 emissions from ICS use. Demand in the VCM is estimated to increase by 15X by 2030, resulting in the overall market to be upwards of $50 billion by 2030. These opportunities present Cook Smart Africa with the chance to positively impact the lives of thousands of Ugandans.