Did you know that three billion of the world’s poorest people still rely on biomass and inefficient smoky stoves to cook their daily meals? For them, cooking is a life threatening activity. Hopefully, Prakti created an award winning solution… In 2013, this social enterprise want to design a new oven affordable to the poorest, with prices decreasing from 60 to 30$. This 15000€ will be dedicated to the R&D in order to design the "Nano Prakti". Help us to give the most in need access to it!

Prakti is a company which designs, manufactures and distributes ovens, especially developed to prevent respiratory disease, fight against poverty and preserve the environment.

How? These ovens save at least 40% of cooking fuel used for cooking and reduce toxic smoke emissions into the habitats up to 90%. We understand the importance of these aspects when we know that in most developing and poor countries, respiratory diseases are the second cause of death, the purchase of fuel (wood and coal) is an important part of household expenditure, and as deforestation have serious consequences on the ecosystem.

Providing a solution to the health, economic and environmental problems, Prakti wants to improve the lifestyle of millions of people worldwide.

Several awards have recognized and rewarded the innovative aspect of Prakti, one of them being the prize of "Clinton Global Initiative" presented by former US President Clinton and the distinction of "Best charcoal oven" by the Lawrence Berkeley Lab.

Cuting

Prakti Design envisions a world where people live healthy lives where a need as basic as cooking a meal is not performed in life-threatening conditions.

Our mission is to drastically increase the use of energy-efficient, clean-burning stoves at the base of the pyramid while involving local communities throughout the whole cookstove value chain.

Health: a threat to millions of lives !

Smoky stoves kills 4 million people every year [1]! Walking into the homes of one of the three billion people worldwide who depend on solid fuels for cooking, the need for improved cookstoves immediately becomes clear. The room is full of smoke as a woman cooks over a three-stone fire, her children inhaling it as they sit a few feet away. The smoke inhaled in homes like this is equivalent to two packs of cigarettes per day. For families like this, there is no alternative; breathing in this life-threatening smoke is the only way to eat.

Prakti stoves reduce indoor air pollution by up to 90 percent, allowing the world’s poor to live dramatically cleaner and healthier lives without changing the foods they cook or fuels they use. To learn more about the positive health impacts our stoves are having around the world, check out the stories on our website.

Environment: deforestation & global warming issues

Everyday, the equivalent of 10 millions of trees are burnt to cook, & more than 4 millions tons of CO2 are released in the atmosphere ! Across the globe, dependence on wood and charcoal for cooking is leading to rapid deforestation. Countries that were once home to thriving forest ecosystems are now turning to deserts, seeing an increased rate of landslides and the disappearance of fertile land.

Transport_of_wood

Women must walk farther and farther each day to gather enough wood to cook, or spend a dramatic portion of their family’s income on fuel brought in from elsewhere. Simultaneously, cooking using these fuels releases black carbon, a major contributor to climate change.

Prakti stoves reduce fuel consumption by up to 70 percent, as well as mitigating harmful emissions like black carbon. We offer wood, charcoal, and biomass briquette stoves to accommodate the needs of different markets and reduce the negative environmental impact of traditional cooking in every region. To learn more about the positive environmental impacts of our stoves, check out the stories on our website.

Women empowerment at the heart of Prakti project

Women bear the brunt of the negative impacts of traditional cooking. Often forced to gather their own fuel for cooking, they can spend hours each day walking to find wood and carry it home. Cooking over a three stone fire, women inhale harmful smoke equivalent to two packs of cigarettes per day.

Prakti stoves improve the lives of women around the world. Using up to 80 percent less fuel than traditional fires, our stoves save the time and energy of these women, usually spent gathering wood. Generating up to 80 percent less smoke, they allow women to avoid the myriad negative health impacts from traditional cooking.

Perhaps even more important, however, Prakti empowers women outside the home. By training women to assemble and sell our stoves, we are helping create a new generation of female entrepreneurs. For more information on the ways we are empowering women across the globe, check out the stories on our website.

Substantial economic savings

Amongst the three billion people who rely on solid fuels for cooking, many are forced to spend upto one third of their income purchasing fuel. With continuously disappearing forests and diminishing access to fuel sources, the numbers of those forced to buy their fuel are only increasing. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, charcoal production is a $10 billion industry.

Prakti_wood_fire

By reducing fuel consumption up to 80 percent, Prakti stoves offer dramatic cost savings to users. Without altering their cooking methods or fuel used, families are able to purchase significantly less wood or charcoal. Institutions like schools, restaurants, and hospitals can similarly save money on wood purchased each month—or, using the same stove, can begin producing their own biomass briquettes from waste and eliminate fuel costs altogether. For more information on how our stoves are creating economic savings for our users, check out the stories on our websites.

Achievements

Since 2008, Prakti co-designs stoves with cooks in the developing world. We foster user-empathy during the R&D phase to reach a deep understanding of what matters, and what could bring more value into people’s lives. Hence, Prakti continuously involves users and their communities in designing, testing, refining -and now manufacturing the stoves.

Test_of_prakti

Through its unique user-centric design methodology, state-of-the-art engineering and rigorous testing, Prakti has developed a broad portfolio of 7 stoves. They have been field tested and very well received by local cooks in India, Nepal, and Haiti; they have improved the lives of their users at the base of the pyramid and have acquired strong field recognition. More than 10 000 stoves have been distributed, which means that every day, around 250 000 meals are cooked using Prakti cook stoves

Through its partnership with SkillMech, Prakti has acquired expertise in stove manufacturing, from rapid prototyping in micro and small batches to full scale industrial production. This in-house capacity allows continuous product improvements, and sustained R&D to address either previously neglected or upcoming cooking needs.

Recognition & Rewards

Clinton_award

Prakti stoves received several awards and recognitions, among which Clinton Global Initiative award by President Clinton (see the video here) and Lawrence Berkeley Lab declaring Prakti ‘best charcoal stove’ (study here). Recently, Prakti Design was selected as an Unreasonable Institute and UnreasonableAtSea fellow.

[1] http://www.thelancet.com/themed/global-burden-of-disease

Nano Prakti, un four qui sauve des vies !