Celebrating Results of the Improved Cookstoves Programme

The implementers of the Improved Cookstove Programme (ICS) in Lao PDR, the Association of Rural Mobilisation and Improvement (ARMI), The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and Oxfam hosted a stakeholders meeting at the New Rose Hotel in Vientiane.

This meeting marked the final multi-stakeholder meeting of the six-year programme that started in 2010. The meeting was attended by 75 people from Vientiane Capital, Champassak and Savannakhet. Representatives from the European Union, Lao Women’s Union, Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Renewable Energy and New Materials Institute (RENMI), the Department of Standardisation and Metrology, the Department of Intellectual Property, the Department of Disaster Management and Climate Change as well as the programme’s stove producers and retailers from three provinces attended the event.

The objective of the meeting was to review the programme’s results and to deliberate the next phase post-January 2017. As of November 2016, the programme achieved the dissemination of 120,000 cookstoves, which has exceeded the target of 100,000 stoves by January 2017. ARMI’s board chairman Mr. Khampasong Sihalath said, “I’m very pleased that the programme was able to accomplish such an outstanding achievement. The ICS with the blue sticker is an efficient and durable stove, it truly exceeds users’ expectations. I know because I have used it myself.” Each improved stove has proven to reduce 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per stove per year, when applied to 120,000 stoves with the life-span of two years, this is equivalent to 3.1 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years.

Other achievements met in the programme include cooperation with 21 stove producers in four provinces (Vientiane Capital, Vientiane Province, Savannakhet and Champassak) and an established distribution network with over 1,000 retailers in 10 provinces (Houaphanh, Vientiane Capital, Vientiane Province, Bolikhamxay, Khamouane, Savannakhet,Salavan, Champassak, Sekong and Attapeu). Outstanding achievement awards were given to stove producers for their efforts in stove production, with the most outstanding producer certificate awarded to Mr. Khammai and Mrs. Chitsana. They are a husband and wife team from Champassak province, who have produced over 20,000 improved cookstoves so far.

Mr Amphone Souvannalath, Director of ARMI, encouraged the discussion between partners on ways to ensure that the production of standardised fuel efficient improved cookstoves will continue beyond the life of the programme and how to innovatively implement initiatives to make cooking clean “It’s important we discuss how we can work together so that the production of efficient cookstoves continues and Lao people are able to access better cooking technologies for years to come”.