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BURN Manufacturing

Kenyan woman preparing a meal on a Burn stove

Providing clean cooking solutions through production and distribution of affordable cookstoves

  • Company
  • Energy
  • East Africa
  • 2015
  • Active

The challenge

More than 90% of Kenya lacks access to modern energy and clean cooking facilities. A vast majority of households rely on traditional wood or charcoal cookstoves that are inefficient with fuel that costs as much as $500 a year. Excessive burning of wood charcoal emits carbon monoxide and other toxic fumes, and is responsible for more than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s deforestation.

The innovation

BURN’s low-cost, highly efficient cookstove represents a step-change in design and efficiency. Its state-of-the-art design cuts fuel consumption by more than half to reduce health risks and spending for Kenya’s urban poor. The company partners with microfinance institutions and credit cooperative societies to provide financing while teaming up with local retailers to improve distribution channels. BURN’s manufacturing facility in Nairobi employs more than 100 Kenyans to produce its stoves locally and catalyze the country’s economy.

The impact

BURN’s Jikokoa—or “saving stove” in Swahili—sells for $40 and saves Kenya’s urban households up to $250 a year. The cookstove cuts fuel consumption by 56%, reducing carbon emissions by 65% to combat the effects of indoor air pollution and improve the standard of living for Kenya’s urban poor.

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