Rasmita

Rasmita from Kandhamal, Odisha, cares for a family of five, managing both household duties and daily labour. Before receiving her energy-efficient clean cookstove, she cooked on a traditional clay stove. Collecting firewood was time-consuming and exhausting. The stove consumed large amounts of firewood, contributing to deforestation, while its smoke caused indoor air pollution, harming her family’s respiratory health and releasing significant CO₂ emissions.

The women are all part of a Self-Help Group (SHG) and are either subsistence farmers or agricultural day labourers. All of them used traditional mud cookstoves or chullas to prepare meals. This was inefficient and consumed a relatively large amount of firewood. The smoke also caused air pollution, which negatively impacted their respiratory health. Lendwithcare is seeking a donation so that the women of SHGs can use an improved cookstove with the support of our partner organisation, FairClimateFund, who is working in collaboration with FCF India.

An improved cookstove uses less firewood (about 50-55% less) and reduces CO2 emissions. On average, one improved cookstove can result in a reduction of 2 tonnes of CO2 per year as compared to using a traditional mud cookstove and has a lifespan of about 5 years. FairClimateFund will check on the use of a large sample of cookstoves every 12 months and make an estimate of how much CO2 emissions have been reduced. Using an improved cookstove will reduce the rates of local deforestation and since less fuel is required, the time the group members and their families spend on collecting firewood. There are also respiratory health benefits since improved cookstoves emit less smoke.

Please note that by supporting the women in the SHG, you are making a grant and not a loan. You won’t receive the repayments you would normally expect with a Lendwithcare loan, and instead, we’ll let you know the reduction in CO2 emissions thanks to your support. Our partners at FCF India provide training to the women on how to use the improved cookstove and select a stove that best suits their needs.