The Katene Clean Cookstoves project expands entrepreneurial company Katene Kadji’s operations beyond Mali’s capital of Bamako, distributing fuel-efficient charcoal cookstoves in major towns and market centres. The more efficient ‘Sewa’ cookstoves require less fuel for cooking, and greatly reduce the amount of indoor smoke pollution.

The project reduces Mali’s wood and charcoal consumption while offering families financial relief from rising fuel costs. Women and children are freed from time-consuming cooking processes, and public health is improved through minimised exposure to pollutants from traditional open-fire cooking. The national expansion of Katene Kadji also promotes local employment – the project directly employs 10 new artisans, as well as indirectly creating hundreds of new jobs for external artisans, dealers, retailers and distributors. The project also coordinates guided tours to raise environmental and climate awareness, and has so far planted over 2,400 m2 of trees.