PHOTO ESSAY
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n Nepal 74 per cent of total energy consumed comes from firewood and majority of it is used for cooking. On average Nepali women, who do the bulk of household work, spent 6 hours daily in collecting firewood. Improved cook-stoves (ICS) are a mature energy technology for the efficient conversion of energy from biomass to heat. They are designed to consume less fuel and save cooking time, to be more convenient and to be smokeless or at least to reduce substantially the volume of smoke produced during cooking, when compared to traditional stoves. The direct and indirect benefits of ICS include increased thermal efficiency, forest conservation by reducing firewood consumption, reduction in women’s labour, reduction in indoor air pollution and smokereleased health disorders, prevention of fire hazards, and reduction of cooking time. In 2012 UNDP’s various projects helped to install 24,120 improved cooking stoves across Nepal. In this photo series, Ratna Man Maharjan making improved cooking stove for Mrs. Chiri Maya Maharjan in Bungmati, Lalitpur. This particular initiative was supported by UNDP- Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme and Implementented by New Initiatives. µ Laxmi Ngakhusi
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