BURN: Efficient cookstoves in Kenya
The BURN Stoves project allows families in rural Kenya to cook food using cleaner, more efficient cook stoves, thereby consuming less charcoal. Communities typically use wood and charcoal to fuel open fires and inefficient cook stoves, creating indoor air pollution, releasing CO2 emissions and creating pressure on local forests. The Burn Stove Project manufactures and distributes the market-leading ‘Jikokoa’ stove locally, employing more than 100 people in sales, manufacturing and distribution – 60% of whom are women.
The stove’s ‘natural draft’ technology reduces fuel consumption by up to 45% and cooking time by up to 50%, saving families up to $300 on fuel a year. In 2015, Burn’s innovative design was recognised by the internationally renowned Ashden sustainability awards.
- Creating opportunities for women in typically male workspaces
- First high spec, affordable cookstove manufactured in Africa
- Emissions reductions per cookstove are equivalent to a flight from London to New York
Delivering towards the Global Goals
No poverty
Good health and well-being
Gender equality
Affordable and clean energy
Decent work and economic growth
Climate action
CASE STUDY
When Hildah first joined Burn, her family was in awe of how she could assemble all the parts that make a Burn jikokoa stove on her own. To them, machinery work was a man’s job.
Hildah has risen through the ranks at Burn and now leads a whole team making the stoves, which she proudly calls “Kenya’s #1 jikos”.

What the carbon finance delivers
