Improving Homes and Protecting Forests
Summary
This project protects forests in Ghana by addressing a root cause of deforestation: The heavy use of firewood for daily cooking. By providing families with the “Gyapa” cookstove, this project measurably reduces carbon emissions and makes homes safer.
How it works
40% of the world’s population cooks their food on open fire. That means three billion people can only have a warm meal if trees are chopped down every day. Reducing the fuel needed for open fire cooking avoids CO2 emissions from deforestation.
The Gyapa cookstove replaces inefficient fire pits and charcoal pots with a cleaner, more fuel-efficient alternative, while maintaining traditional cooking methods. The Gyapa cookstove uses a combustion chamber, insulated with a ceramic liner, which reduces fuel consumption by 50-60%. Carbon financing subsidizes the cost of the stove, making it affordable.
Why we chose it
We chose this project because of its extensive social and health benefits. In Ghana, 18,000 premature deaths are attributed to the heavy smoke exposure in households. The Gyapa cookstove doesn’t only burn hotter and cleaner, it’s also faster to use and cheaper to fuel, saving time and money for families, mostly benefiting women. The project was so successful that the name “Gyapa” is now used synonymously with combustion chamber stoves across Ghana.
Project photos
Project fact sheet
Location
| Project name | Gyapa Cook Stoves Project in Ghana |
|---|---|
| Active since | 2007 |
| Certification | Gold Standard |
| Project developer | Climate Care |
| Technical document | Climate Care |
| Project design validated by | TÜV Rheinland |
| Credits verified by | Carbon Check, Bureau Veritas Certification Holding SAS |
| Registry entry | Gold Standard Registry |
| Read more | Klima Blog |