Kenya: Breathing Space Programme

Berkeley Air is partnering with the Shell Foundation to assess the real-word impact of its Breathing Space Programme (BSP), which is promoting a range of improved biomass stoves through its implementing partner Envirofit International. BSP aims to achieve a material, verifiable, long-term reduction in indoor air pollution at the global level by deploying approaches, which are market oriented and commercially viable.

A before-and-after study was conducted Kenya in 2011 in order to explore the nature and extent of an advanced rocket wood stove’s impacts on fuel use, indoor air pollution, and socioeconomic factors. A follow-up study was also conducted in 2012 using observation and in-depth interviews that focused on consumer attitudes and perceptions of the stove one year after purchase, as well as barriers to full adoption of the stove.

As a part of Berkeley Air’s monitoring plan, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Kenya to provide a preliminary estimate of the advanced charcoal stove’s technical performance under real-world conditions and assess the stove’s impacts on cooking patterns, stove perceptions, and socioeconomic impacts such as time and monetary savings. Emissions were measured in uncontrolled cooking tests, and in a separate group of households, kitchen performance tests (KPT) and Stove Use Monitoring Systems (SUMS) were used to measure fuel use and stove use respectively. Respondents were also later interviewed by telephone to explore stove use and perceptions after using the advanced stove for a long period of time. The study was co-sponsored by Unilever, and implemented by Envirofit International and East Africa Energy.

Nairobi, Kenya

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