The objective of the project is to present alternative “ecostove” kitchen regimes and cook stoves to the rural forest community members of the South West Community Forestry Network that will allow them to either reduce or shift away from wood-fuel consumption.

Such cook stoves and kitchen regimes will be developed with the participation of community target groups and local manufacturers, who will identify a range of cook-stoves and kitchen regimes (reduced fuel-wood consumption, agricultural residues etc) that individual household leaders might select depending on what suits their needs best.

The project intends to create a marketable carbon project by bringing together thirty communities, coordinated by RCDC, which is a Cameroonian NGO with a long history of capacity building in the target communities. These thirty communities represent approximately 3,000 households, consuming (conservatively) an estimated 7.4 kt fuel wood per year equal to 14.5 kt CO2e per year. Over a 7 year crediting period, this project anticipates a 75% reduction in domestic fuel wood consumption. Carbon finance will provide the means to subsidize the costs of purchasing improved stoves.

In addition to the climate change mitigation potential, improved cook stoves provide the opportunity of more diversified food which can be supplied to the market and has the potential to contribute to an increase in the populations’ income, as 36% of the household women cook both for their families and for market use. Furthermore, there is a significant time-saving for the women by using the improved cook stoves, as the daily fuel-wood collection can take up to two hours.

A major obstacle to wood-fuel projects is managing the baseline for woody biomass. This aspect of carbon management will be facilitated here as the target communities have all established formal community forest organizations. The community forest organizations will allow for proper management of fuel collection areas (the area within which this biomass is produced and supplied, or could reasonably be expected to be produced and supplied) and determination and estimation of the non-renewability fraction of woody biomass.