Clean cookstoves in Mozambique lure big investors
CleanStar Mozambique is a combined effort among a mix of institutions centered around replacing traditional charcoal cooking stoves with stoves fueled by sustainably produced bio-ethanol.
A woman sells clams in the main market of Maputo, Mozambique, in 2011. A consortium of groups is working to provide women with cleaner-burning cook stoves.
Matthew Tostevin/Reuters/File
When it comes to investing in a clean cookstoves project, reports that maybe there's no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.
Cooked up in 2010, CleanStar Mozambique is a combined effort among a mix of investors, financial and research institutions, and NGOs, including , , , , , and . The project:
"Simultaneously addresses the issues of deforestation, land degradation, hunger, poverty, indoor pollution and carbon emissions, on a small scale, all through a for-profit business structure. The program ... is centered around the replacement of traditional charcoal cooking stoves with alcohol-fired stoves that can be fueled by sustainably produced bio-ethanol."
听IN PICTURES: Food security in Africa
Triple Pundit reports that the and funding "will allow CleanStar and its partners to now focus fully on implementation, rather than the time-consuming process of fundraising.鈥�
reports that Soros鈥� $6 million investment:
"Will give it a 19% stake in the $20 million project... The project has also received a $3 million investment from the Denmark-backed Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries, while Danish industrial enzymes company has provided $1 million and a number of loans. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is also assisting with the selling of carbon credits."
CleanStar seems to be making a huge impact on Mozambique in a number of challenging arenas, but implications for other cities in Africa are exciting if the project is implemented successfully:
"They expect that their retail fuel distribution infrastructure will reach 80,000 customers in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, by 2014. This looks to be the next chapter in a great story. With a $10 billion market for charcoal-based cooking across the rapidly-urbanizing continent, CleanStar鈥檚 business model is likely to be feasible in over 40 major African cities."
鈥� at , a blog published by .
鈥� Sign up to receive a weekly selection of practical and inspiring Change Agent articles by .