Project Title: StoveTeam International

Location: Mexico

Grant Amount: $42,312

Grantee Website: www.stoveteam.org

Areas of Impact: Health, Safety and Security

Mission of StoveTeam International
StoveTeam solves medical and environmental problems by helping local entrepreneurs start factories to promote the use of safe, affordable, fuel-efficient stoves in the developing world.

Summary
DFW will provide partial seed funding to establish a factory to manufacture and sell fuel-efficient cookstoves. The factory will be owned by a woman, and employ a network of women advocates who will educate and sell stoves to the local community. The factory will purchase local materials to build the stoves. Improved cookstoves reduce deforestation as they require less wood fuel, and create a safe cooking environment for women and their children.

DFW's grant of $42,312 will improve the lives of hundreds of women who currently cook on indoor fires, provide economic opportunities, and improve the environment. Specifically, DFW will fund an Outreach Supervisor and six advocates/sellers for one year, a vehicle or mileage to distribute stoves in the community, and cookstove promotional materials for local communities.

Project Update: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the grant activities approved for the August 2013 project could not be completed as planned. Stove Team International submitted another proposal for a project in Honduras in July 2016 which was approved by DFW. The DFW grant will fund improved alternative, fuel-efficient and safe cookstoves for 390 women and their families who are otherwise forced to cook over open fires and suffer the myriad impacts, including lung, heart, eye and skin diseases, debilitating burns, and hernias. The grant will also fund distribution and outreach for the project as well as pre and post-test surveys on usage and impact.

Why We Love This
One of the most dangerous activities a woman can undertake in the developing world is cooking for her family. We are passionate about dramatically improving health benefits for women and children, as well as reducing the human footprint on the environment.

We love providing seed funding for a female run fuel-efficient stove factory and providing for female employment, in addition to dramatic health benefits for stove users.

Statistics show that smoke from indoor cooking fires is a leading cause of death of children under age five. Millions of women and children suffer painful and debilitating burns as a result of unsafe cooking methods.

Traditional stoves also emit more than one billion tons of greenhouse gases each year, contributing significantly to climate change. They require massive amounts of wood, impacting our environment substantially. This program involves and benefits the entire community; has already been successful in other countries and supports women in a leadership/owner position to help themselves and many other women and children.