The Millennium Village Project (MVP)’s Household Stove Program was awarded a special achievement award for “Meeting Community Needs” at the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air Forum (PCIA)’s bi-annual Forum in Lima, Peru. The award is “in appreciation and recognition of the MVP’s dedication to meeting community needs through household energy interventions,” and recognized the project’s dedication to tailoring programs by country and region to meet the cooking needs of households.

MVP’s Energy and Income Generation Specialist, Katie Freeman, lead two workshop sessions on “Meeting Community Needs” in the Millennium Village Project’s stove programs.

The US EPA-sponsored PCIA brings together 460 individuals, nonprofits, governments, research organizations and businesses from around the world dedicated to technical and policy solutions to improved cooking in the developing world. At the invitation of the government of Peru and first lady Pilar Nores, the 2011 PCIA Form hosted 351 partners from 40 countries for five days of workshops, technical presentations and case studies from successful programs around the world aimed at accelerating action that reduces smoke exposure from cooking and heating practices—and ultimately improves the health, livelihood, and quality of life for millions of people around the world.

The MVP’s household stove program is at the core of the MVP’s energy sector and increases access to improved cooking technologies, reducing environmental stress, time/labor burden and indoor air pollution (IAP) associated with traditional cooking. To date, the program has:

• Conducted Controlled Cooking Tests (CCTs) in eight sites across seven countries to test locally made stoves, Envirofit stoves, and StoveTec stoves against the three‐stone fire.
• Launched results‐based household stove programs in six sites across five countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mali, Uganda and Nigeria.
• Sold over 7,000 household stoves at a 0%‐50% subsidy.
• Decreased fuelwood collection times by up to 50% for over 1,000 households in Africa