Traditional cooking methods over 3 stone open fires pose significant long and short-term health risks to families, especially women and children who are often tasked with cooking chores in African households.

Globally, approximately 2.3 billion people (around a third of the global population) lack access to clean and efficient cooking, mostly due to lack of affordability.

The most recent 2023 World Health Organisation report highlights the effects of long-term exposure to smoke produced by 3 stone open fires.

Household air pollution (HAP) was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237, 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.

The combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution are associated with 6.7 million premature deaths annually.

Among these 3.2 million deaths from household air pollution exposure:

• 32% are from ischemic heart disease: 12% of all deaths due to ischemic heart disease, accounting for over a million premature deaths annually, can be attributed to exposure to household air pollution.
• 23% are from stroke: approximately 12% of all deaths due to stroke can be attributed to the daily exposure to household air pollution arising from using solid fuels and kerosene at home.
• 21% are due to lower respiratory infection: exposure to household air pollution almost doubles the risk for childhood LRI and is responsible for 44% of all pneumonia deaths in children less than 5 years old. Household air pollution is a risk for acute lower respiratory infections in adults and contributes to 22% of all adult deaths due to pneumonia.
• 19% are from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): 23% of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults in low- and middle-income countries are due to exposure to HAP.
• 6% are from lung cancer: approximately 11% of lung cancer deaths in adults are attributable to exposure to carcinogens from HAP.

DelAgua’s Live Well programme alleviates this crisis by working exclusively with rural communities to ensure that this population, which remains dependent on traditional wood-fuelled open fires is not left behind in gaining access to energy efficient cooking. The DelAgua stove, which is distributed free of charge, is the most efficient portable biomass  stove available today. It burns cleanly, with very little to no smoke and because it is designed to be used outdoors HAP is significantly reduced. The stove also removes the daily hazard of burns from the open fire .

Victoria Kamara, a medical nurse in Yele Town acknowledges the benefits of the Live Well clean cooking programme: “The number of cases reported at the health centre for smoke or fire related issues have equally drastically reduced after the intervention of the DelAgua stove. After consulting with the community, I noticed that the reduction in smoke exposure and improved sanitation in homes has improved the overall health of families.”

This difference in household air pollution is noticed by beneficiaries too. Ya Amie, a beneficiary in Patifu-mayawah, Sierra Leone shares her experience using our DelAgua stove: “When I cooked with the traditional stove I used to experience dizziness, running nose, coughing and  red eyes. Now with the DelAgua stove, I do not get such because the stove does not produce a lot of smoke. We no longer have smoke pollution in our compound and the children can play around without being exposed to smoke or open fires that can easily burn them.”

Find out more about the health benefits of our Live Well programme here.