Beyond Climate Mitigation: The Promising Social Impact of MEC’s Electric Cooking Program on Women in Rural India

Stories from the field

Induction cooking is a complex issue in India, given that polluting fossil fuels like coal remain the primary source of electricity generation in the country. However, as India moves to cleaner and more renewable sources of electricity in the future, following the worldwide push in power systems planning to move to cleaner sources of fuel, the future of clean cooking in India is surely electric. At MEC, we are leading the movement by ensuring that when the day comes, the underserved and low-income communities of women are not left behind in the energy transition once again, as the last in the socio-economic ladder to receive access to clean cooking technologies.

Our clean cooking program, MicroEnergy Credits – Microfinance for Clean Cooking Product Lines – India (GS12066), is the pioneer carbon program promoting e-cooking in India, through which induction cookstoves are being made available to women microentrepreneurs in low-income communities to cook in cleaner, safer environments on their journey up the clean energy ladder. The program also has the accomplishment of being issued the first-of-their-kind carbon credits earlier this year under the new Gold Standard Methodology for Metered & Measured Energy Cooking Devices. It has a verified impact on SDGs 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 &13.

The program has a clear environmental impact with verified reduced emissions. By replacing cooking fuels like wood and charcoal, induction cookstoves reduce associated GHG emissions and provide a cleaner cooking environment with no indoor air pollution. By eliminating the need for firewood, the stoves also directly reduce the need to chop down trees for fuel, preventing deforestation in the local area and positively impacting the environment. To date, the program has already reduced 85,310 tonnes of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere and is on track to reduce several thousand tonnes more year-on-year.

Not only that, the program supports better health outcomes for families, especially for women and children. According to The Economist, 4 million people still die prematurely every year because of the indoor air pollution generated by cooking with polluting fuels like coal and kerosene, making it the world’s third-biggest cause of early mortality for women and children, after heart disease and strokes.[i] By significantly reducing the air pollution and carbon emissions associated with cooking, our induction cookstoves program provides a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to traditional methods. The use of these stoves also completely eliminates the instances of fire-related accidents during cooking.

MEC clients sit in front of a wall covered in soot from a traditional ‘chulha’

However, it is the social impact of our carbon intervention that sets the MEC program apart. Our recent conversations with some clients in Bhathat village, Maharajganj district, near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, India, demonstrated some remarkable co-benefits of the program to the women microentrepreneurs:

• Monetary savings: The money the women save by using induction cookstoves has a far-reaching impact on the lives of their families. Kanchan Pal, an end-user who runs a cosmetics and bangle store in the village, reports that aside from the ease of use and making her cooking environment safer, she is most enthused by the monthly money she saves by cooking on the induction cookstove. An LPG cylinder costs her between 900-1200 rupees a month, and firewood costs 7-8 rupees/kg. Her household of 6 people can consume up to 15 kgs of firewood in a month. On the other hand, the cost of cooking on an induction stove is about 200-300 rupees a month, encouraging her to use that as her primary cooking method. Kanchan has used the money saved on cooking fuels to stock her shop better, resulting in better business and more income for her. She was preparing for her daughter’s wedding, which was to take place the week after we met her, and she reported that she had also used some of the savings from fuel purchases to support the wedding preparations, a matter of great pride for her.

Kanchan Pal is delighted with the money she saves every month by cooking on an induction cookstove

• Time savings: Gita Gupta, an end-user who runs an egg stall during the day and a food stall in the evenings, reports that cooking on the induction stove at home saves her at least 30-45 minutes daily. She can simultaneously manage other household chores because the food cooks faster and does not need to be watched as it cooks. She chooses to use this saved time to keep her stalls open longer, resulting in a direct increase in her daily income.

Gita Gupta spends more time on her microenterprises now

• Women Empowerment- Increase in gender and social equity for women: Perhaps one of the most encouraging impacts of our program has been the increase in social equity that most women reported. These women are not just caregivers inside their homes and microentrepreneurs outside their homes; their financial contribution lends them increased agency, further empowering them to participate in social and economic activities. Because their micro-enterprises are generating more income due to investing more time and money saved, some women we met reported receiving more social and domestic support from their husbands and families. Pavitra Nisar, another client who runs a food stall, reports that her husband now helps her around the house, even cooking sometimes since it is much easier to cook food on an induction cookstove, which is an almost ground-breaking social change in this pocket of rural India, given that most women even in urban and peri-urban India cannot claim to enjoy this domestic support. Gita also tells us that her children make simple snacks like instant noodles for themselves after school on these stoves, which she encourages since there is no fear of fire or burns. This small act has fostered independence in her children, who are learning to care for themselves and freeing up Gita’s time in turn.

Pavitra Nisar’s husband helps her with domestic cooking, allowing her more free time to use as she pleases

Community building and personal development: The women reported an exciting development: using video tutorials on YouTube to learn new dishes to cook on the induction stoves. The women share innovative dishes and recipes they try with each other, enriching their social interactions. They reported a marked sense of personal accomplishment in keeping pace with modern technology like electric cooking and using the internet to learn new recipes.

MEC's clean cooking program is not just a solution to the environmental and health crises associated with traditional cooking methods; it is a transformative initiative that empowers women, enhances their economic prospects, promotes significant improvements in health, and fosters gender and social equity in underserved communities. The success stories of women like Kanchan, Gita, and Pavitra highlight the transformative potential of clean cooking solutions, showing how technological innovations can catalyze broader social change. As we continue to build programs to navigate the transition to clean energy in our efforts towards climate mitigation, we are committed to ensuring that marginalized groups remain at the forefront of this change.

[i] [i] https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/07/12/why-cooking-causes-4m-premature-deaths-a-year