Sustainable Village Cooking Project
Project Summary: Village Progress aims to combat environmental problems present in Lincang’s villages by equipping village families with super-efficient wood-burning stoves and solar cooking umbrellas. The Sustainable Village Cooking Project aims to curb deforestation, pollution and improve health conditions for families accustomed to cooking indoors.
Project Vision: In most of Yunnan’s rural villages, cooking is done indoors, with little ventilation, on wood-fired coals. Over time, this has resulted in mass deforestation, forcing local governments to ban cutting down trees for cooking. However, these laws are difficult to enforce as villagers have no other reasonable methods to cook or boil water. Indoor cooking in Yunnan’s countryside has also had severe health consequences. Many illnesses prevalent in villages, especially those related to respiratory and heart disease, are attributed to indoor emissions from wood-fired cooking.
The Sustainable Village Cooking Project aims to curb deforestation and emissions while combating respiratory and heart diseases by equipping village families with super-efficient wood-burning stoves for cooking and solar cooking umbrellas for heating water. In test runs with the super-efficient stove in Bangdong Village, families have claimed that they use half as much wood as before yet cooking is more efficient than ever. In fact, though many families make less than 2000 RMB per year, they claim that they would be willing to invest a portion of the stoves cost to have one in their home.
The stoves consume only 50% as much wood and produce only 25% of the emissions that normal fire pits produce. Moreover, since more than half of cooking in village homes is to boil water, the addition of solar cooking umbrellas for heating water could cut wood consumption by an additional 50%. This, in turn, cuts emissions to 12.5% of what they are now. The ultimate goal is to convince both local governments and village families that investing in environmentally efficient cooking systems will both save villages money and offer a healthier, more sustainable future.
Project Work Plan: The initial phase of the Sustainable Village Cooking Project went into effect in May, 2011. So far, tests for the usability and efficiency of the stoves have families in Bangdong Village convinced that the super-efficient wood-burning stoves conserve wood, save families time that they would usually spend collecting wood, improve indoor air quality and actually make cooking easier.
The next phase of the pilot project is to incorporate solar cooking umbrellas to further decrease the use of wood-fired cooking and improve indoor air quality in village homes. Bangdong Village has 56 families and serves as a good starting point for the Sustainable Village Cooking Project because of Village Progress’s involvement with the community over the past seven years. By working with village leaders and local government officials, sustainable cooking equipment can be incorporated into village life with the effort of the local community and the support of Village Progress.
With village familys paying a 25% buy-in, they will be invested in the project’s success. Though Lincang’s government operates many environmental projects in villages, without the investment of the villagers themselves, projects often fall to ruin within a few years. By convincing village families that investing in a portion of the cost, the Sustainable Village Cooking Project will prove more sustainable over time.
Once Bangdong Village serves as a successful model village, the Sustainable Village Cooking Project will seek government help to subsidize sustainable cooking systems in other villages throughout Yunnan. The sustainability and replicability of the project reveal the potential of villages throughout Yunnan converting to a more environmentally-friendlier and healthier way of cooking at home.
Project Impact: According to the World Health Organization, indoor cooking is responsible for nearly 1.5 million deaths worldwide. In rural Yunnan, indoor cooking is responsible for pollutants that cause chronic respiratory disease, heart disease and even pneumonia. The Sustainable Village Cooking Project aims to combat these diseases by lowering the amount of pollutants in village homes caused by indoor cooking.
Stovetec’s super-efficient wood-burning stove has proven to lower wood consumption for cooking by 50% and lower emissions by 75% while making cooking easier. Moreover, since boiling water is responsible for half of all cooking, Linding New Energy Company’s solar cooking umbrella equips villagers to further lower wood consumption to 25% of original consumption rates while emissions fall to 12.5%.
With dwindling forests in Yunnan’s countryside, finding wood has become an obstacle for villagers who have cooked with wood for centuries. Yunnan has banned logging for wood used in cooking which makes sourcing cooking fuel very difficult. Villagers spend as much as 20 hours per month finding dead trees or burnable detritus in order to keep up with cooking demand. And with this getting more difficult, some violate laws and cut down trees just to have enough wood to cook with. The Sustainable Village Cooking Project will have a dramatic impact on villages that have no choice but to cook with wood. By lowering fuel demand by 75% and lowering emissions by 87.5%, Village Progress can work with villagers to improve the future environment and health of their villages.
The long-term goal of the project is to combat environmental issues like deforestation, harmful emissions and health problems attributed to indoor cooking. By offering villagers an economically sensible price through government and donor subsidies, villagers will be equipped with the tools necessary to work towards a more sustainable future. Success in Bangdong Village will create a viable future for replicating the Sustainable Village Cooking Project in villages throughout Yunnan.
The project’s success and progress will be determined by the following measurable objectives:
Project Sponsors:
Project Vision: In most of Yunnan’s rural villages, cooking is done indoors, with little ventilation, on wood-fired coals. Over time, this has resulted in mass deforestation, forcing local governments to ban cutting down trees for cooking. However, these laws are difficult to enforce as villagers have no other reasonable methods to cook or boil water. Indoor cooking in Yunnan’s countryside has also had severe health consequences. Many illnesses prevalent in villages, especially those related to respiratory and heart disease, are attributed to indoor emissions from wood-fired cooking.
The Sustainable Village Cooking Project aims to curb deforestation and emissions while combating respiratory and heart diseases by equipping village families with super-efficient wood-burning stoves for cooking and solar cooking umbrellas for heating water. In test runs with the super-efficient stove in Bangdong Village, families have claimed that they use half as much wood as before yet cooking is more efficient than ever. In fact, though many families make less than 2000 RMB per year, they claim that they would be willing to invest a portion of the stoves cost to have one in their home.
The stoves consume only 50% as much wood and produce only 25% of the emissions that normal fire pits produce. Moreover, since more than half of cooking in village homes is to boil water, the addition of solar cooking umbrellas for heating water could cut wood consumption by an additional 50%. This, in turn, cuts emissions to 12.5% of what they are now. The ultimate goal is to convince both local governments and village families that investing in environmentally efficient cooking systems will both save villages money and offer a healthier, more sustainable future.
Project Work Plan: The initial phase of the Sustainable Village Cooking Project went into effect in May, 2011. So far, tests for the usability and efficiency of the stoves have families in Bangdong Village convinced that the super-efficient wood-burning stoves conserve wood, save families time that they would usually spend collecting wood, improve indoor air quality and actually make cooking easier.
The next phase of the pilot project is to incorporate solar cooking umbrellas to further decrease the use of wood-fired cooking and improve indoor air quality in village homes. Bangdong Village has 56 families and serves as a good starting point for the Sustainable Village Cooking Project because of Village Progress’s involvement with the community over the past seven years. By working with village leaders and local government officials, sustainable cooking equipment can be incorporated into village life with the effort of the local community and the support of Village Progress.
With village familys paying a 25% buy-in, they will be invested in the project’s success. Though Lincang’s government operates many environmental projects in villages, without the investment of the villagers themselves, projects often fall to ruin within a few years. By convincing village families that investing in a portion of the cost, the Sustainable Village Cooking Project will prove more sustainable over time.
Once Bangdong Village serves as a successful model village, the Sustainable Village Cooking Project will seek government help to subsidize sustainable cooking systems in other villages throughout Yunnan. The sustainability and replicability of the project reveal the potential of villages throughout Yunnan converting to a more environmentally-friendlier and healthier way of cooking at home.
- Phase 1 (Completed by January, 2012): The completion of this phase entails assessing baseline research, finishing pilot projects with a select group of families and enlisting community support for the project.
- Phase 2 (Completed by November, 2012): The completion of this phase entails equipping a village of 56 family homes with super-efficient wood-burning stoves and solar cooking umbrellas.
- Phase 3 (Continuous): With the completion of the Environmentally Sustainable Village Cooking Project’s first model village, Village Progress will seek the support of further grants or government involvement to expand into other villages.
- Phase 4 (Potential): If it proves more cost effective to produce super-efficient wood-burning stoves locally, Village Progress will work with government officials to move toward local production.
Project Impact: According to the World Health Organization, indoor cooking is responsible for nearly 1.5 million deaths worldwide. In rural Yunnan, indoor cooking is responsible for pollutants that cause chronic respiratory disease, heart disease and even pneumonia. The Sustainable Village Cooking Project aims to combat these diseases by lowering the amount of pollutants in village homes caused by indoor cooking.
Stovetec’s super-efficient wood-burning stove has proven to lower wood consumption for cooking by 50% and lower emissions by 75% while making cooking easier. Moreover, since boiling water is responsible for half of all cooking, Linding New Energy Company’s solar cooking umbrella equips villagers to further lower wood consumption to 25% of original consumption rates while emissions fall to 12.5%.
With dwindling forests in Yunnan’s countryside, finding wood has become an obstacle for villagers who have cooked with wood for centuries. Yunnan has banned logging for wood used in cooking which makes sourcing cooking fuel very difficult. Villagers spend as much as 20 hours per month finding dead trees or burnable detritus in order to keep up with cooking demand. And with this getting more difficult, some violate laws and cut down trees just to have enough wood to cook with. The Sustainable Village Cooking Project will have a dramatic impact on villages that have no choice but to cook with wood. By lowering fuel demand by 75% and lowering emissions by 87.5%, Village Progress can work with villagers to improve the future environment and health of their villages.
The long-term goal of the project is to combat environmental issues like deforestation, harmful emissions and health problems attributed to indoor cooking. By offering villagers an economically sensible price through government and donor subsidies, villagers will be equipped with the tools necessary to work towards a more sustainable future. Success in Bangdong Village will create a viable future for replicating the Sustainable Village Cooking Project in villages throughout Yunnan.
The project’s success and progress will be determined by the following measurable objectives:
- The project will conduct surveys before and after each multi-media assignment to test students’ knowledge and perception. Students’ progress will be assessed and tracked to determine the educational value of the project.
- All student projects will be recorded, photographed or documented. The productivity of the students an important indicator of the project’s productiveness. All multi-media works, and the hours spent on those works, will also be recorded.
- The most valuable project indicators for the project are health and environment improvements within the villages themselves. The project will document issues that villages now face and will catalogue impacts that the project has on these issues.
- Increasing involvement from community leaders and local government is an important progress indicator for the future success and replicability of the project.
Project Sponsors:
- Stovetec www.stovetec.net: Using donated products, Stovetec’s stove design has already proven to be both efficient and usable in a village setting.
- Qindao Lingding New Energy Co, Ltd (LNE) www.topntm.com: LNE has provided Village Progress with test products and can offer the Environmentally Sustainable Village Cooking Project wholesale costs.
- China California Heart Watch (CCHW) www.chinalcal.org: In May, 2011, Village Progress was able to attain support from the Lincang Government of 900,000 RMB for a village doctor training programrun by CCHW that taught hypertension and high blood pressure diagnosis and treatment to nearly 500 village doctors throughout the prefecture. http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/2223/back_to_bangdong_village
- Heart to Heart NGO: This is a Chinese-run NGO that has partnered with Village Progress and CCHW in the past to run heart examinations for students in poor migrant schools.
- Center for Intercultural Education (CIE) www.centerinterculturaled.org: CIE in partnership with Exidea (www.exidea.org), a Kunming-based NGO, has offered Village Progress assistance from its university volunteer students who have years of experience operating service-learning programs in rural Yunnan.
- Salvador’s Food and Beverage Co, Ltd www.salvadors.cn. Village Progress grew out of a business in Kunming, Yunnan called Salvador’s Food and Beverage Co, Ltd. Salvador’s has been a very successful business for over seven years and in that time has employed nearly 40 young women from Lincang Prefecture. The women of Salvador’s were the inspiration for Village Progress that now endeavors, along with the help of their employees and their families, to create sustainable environmental, education, health and poverty alleviation programs in the very villages that Salvador’s employees grew up in. A portion of Salvador’s profits help to fund Village Progress.
