Kitchens of Progress:
The Bondhu Chula
The Rural Modular Kitchen Solution
In Bangla, “Bondhu” stands for ‘friend’ and the Bondhu Chula initiative is a one-of-a-kind nationwide initiative that addresses the widespread use of biomass cooking stoves in rural households. Traditional cookstoves are a leading contributor to indoor air pollution and a drain on forest resources. Almost 28 million households in Bangladesh still use this traditional form of cooking. Our improved cookstove program while addressing the immediate concern of women’s health and forest degradation, also doubles up as an entrepreneurship and livelihoods program. Each improved cookstove is manufactured at the village level and installed as a modular, fixed kitchen installed and maintained by trained women entrepreneurs, locally called ‘Daktars’. This led to one of the largest nationwide livelihood programs involving almost 50,000 entrepreneurs nationwide.
Bangladesh
Project Location: 64 Districts, Bangladesh
Methodology: Energy Efficiency Measures in Thermal Applications of Non-renewable Biomass Standard: Gold Standard
Current Deployment:
40,000 – 70,000 Bondhu Chulas/month
Total Deployment: 6 Million households
Future Expansion: 5 million households
Income Generating Individuals : 53,000
A Dual Engine for Gender and Livelihoods
This development project accelerates the adoption of cleaner cooking solutions, supporting micro-entrepreneurs and is a leading example of climate and development action at scale. The local communities, especially women are trained in installing, and maintaining Bondhu Chula – a modular fixed cookstove that by default becomes the primary kitchen of the household. Micro-entrepreneurs who manufacture the cookstove are trained in ensuring quality, while subsidies and performance-based incentives motivate their engagement. This sustainable model positively impacts both the product and the community it serves.
Reduced HAP, Increased
Health Benefits
Women Entrepreneurs: Income Generation for Dignity
Improved Modular
Rural Kitchens at Scale
Decent Work and
Economic Growth
Transition at
Scale
There is a chimney integrated into the Bondhu Chula which effectively minimizes the exposure to Household Air Pollution (HAP) for the women and girl child of the household. Since this program has exposure to millions of households, there has been a visible change in the occurrence of respiratory diseases across the country.
The program employs almost 50,000 women as a part of the installation and maintenance jobs. These women, almost all home makers without any source of income, instantly have an outlet for social engagement as well as some income for themselves. This is an invaluable gender intervention, especially for countries like Bangladesh. For the women and girl children as users, there is an added benefit of a minimize time needed for cooking and fuel collection. These indirectly leads to women and girl children to have some quality time to pursue their interests, enhanced social engagement and working on their well-being in general.
Climbing up the energy ladder is of profound importance to the rural women of Bangladesh. A country so ravaged by floods and typhoons, access to energy is one of the pillars of survival. This program is about a ‘just transition’ at scale. Over 25 million households in the country still use traditional methods of cooking, so the transition to cleaner sources needs to start now.
Our employment model operates through capacity building and incentives for grassroot communities enabling sustainable results at scale. There are employment and entrepreneurship opportunities at various levels of the program including the 200 people at the corporate office, 1500 people at the regional office sand training centers, over 6000 Bondhu Chula manufacturers at village levels and 50,000 women ‘Daktars’ working with the households. This leads to a livelihoods program which is crucial for the long-term sustainability of such large-scale programs.
Improved cooking programs are challenging and especially if it is to be done at a large scale. The adoption rates depend on user friendliness and quick access to maintenance. Local economy development is another crucial element for the long-term sustainability of the program. A multi-tiered approach keeping all these considerations in mind has helped this program achieve climate action at scale, a scale that is required for most cooking programs for a ‘just transition.’
Reduced HAP, Increased Health Benefits
There is a chimney integrated into the Bondhu Chula which effectively minimizes the exposure to Household Air Pollution (HAP) for the women and girl child of the household. Since this program has exposure to millions of households, there has been a visible change in the occurrence of respiratory diseases across the country.
Women Entrepreneurs: Income Generation for Dignity
The program employs almost 50,000 women as a part of the installation and maintenance jobs. These women, almost all home makers without any source of income, instantly have an outlet for social engagement as well as some income for themselves. This is an invaluable gender intervention, especially for countries like Bangladesh. For the women and girl children as users, there is an added benefit of a minimize time needed for cooking and fuel collection. These indirectly leads to women and girl children to have some quality time to pursue their interests, enhanced social engagement and working on their well-being in general.
Improved Modular Rural Kitchens at Scale
Climbing up the energy ladder is of profound importance to the rural women of Bangladesh. A country so ravaged by floods and typhoons, access to energy is one of the pillars of survival. This program is about a ‘just transition’ at scale. Over 25 million households in the country still use traditional methods of cooking, so the transition to cleaner sources needs to start now.
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Our employment model operates through capacity building and incentives for grassroot communities enabling sustainable results at scale. There are employment and entrepreneurship opportunities at various levels of the program including the 200 people at the corporate office, 1500 people at the regional office sand training centers, over 6000 Bondhu Chula manufacturers at village levels and 50,000 women ‘Daktars’ working with the households. This leads to a livelihoods program which is crucial for the long-term sustainability of such large-scale programs.
Transition at Scale
Improved cooking programs are challenging and especially if it is to be done at a large scale. The adoption rates depend on user friendliness and quick access to maintenance. Local economy development is another crucial element for the long-term sustainability of the program. A multi-tiered approach keeping all these considerations in mind has helped this program achieve climate action at scale, a scale that is required for most cooking programs for a ‘just transition.’
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Real Stories, Real Change
Manjai's Story
Earlier, I used to cook on a traditional stove. The entire house used to get filled with smoke and black soot. I also fell sick more often. It was difficult for me to breathe (while using a stove). After using Bondhu Chula, there is no smoke, black soot, or any residue on the utensils.
Manjai Costa
Doxin Bhadarti
Ghaziabad, Bangladesh
