Electric Cookstove Project, Nepal (August 2022 – ongoing) (a multi-year carbon project in collaboration with CO2balance Ltd. UK and Ajummery Bikas Foundation)

Vikas Yatra, with technical support from the Ajummery Bikas Foundation (ABF), is implementing the Electric Cookstove Project, Nepal in rural and peri-urban areas across Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini Provinces of Nepal. The project is designed to tap into a carbon financing opportunity to improve the access of rural and peri-urban populations to clean cooking solutions. The majority of people in these areas rely heavily on traditional or biomass stoves for cooking, which has serious implications for public health, the environment, and climate change. To tackle this issue, the project will promote energy-efficient, clean, and user-friendly electric cooktops. A switch from polluting biomass fuels and LPG to electric cooking alternatives will not only reduce CO₂ emissions, but it will also benefit users by saving their time, money, and the environment, and by improving their health (as a result of reduced exposure to toxic emissions).

Vikas Yatra collaborates with local governments and local institutions to implement the project. The organisation provides capacity building support to local partners to raise awareness and provide user education at the local level. Additionally, Vikas Yatra also provides support for electric cooktop repair and maintenance training.