Our Engagement in Clean Cooking

Franke supports rural village communities in Cambodia and Nepal in moving from harmful firewood cooking to smoke-free cooking – protecting people’s health and the environment.

An overlooked issue

Over 2 billion people worldwide still cook over open fires or with inefficient cookstoves using wood, charcoal, dung etc. The resulting smoke emissions have devastating consequences:

Every year, 2.9 million people die prematurely due to exposure to household air pollution from cooking smoke (source: World Health Organization) – surpassing the number of deaths from HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Women and newborns are particularly at risk.

Cooking with polluting fuels produces as many climate-damaging emissions as the entire global aviation industry (source: Clean Cooking Alliance) – with a huge impact on the environment and climate.

A partnership for change: Franke and SNV unite for Smoke Free Villages

Since 2024, Franke has partnered with SNV, a global development partner, to support its Smoke Free Village program in Cambodia and Nepal – helping advance the urgently needed transition to smoke-free cooking.

Find out more about SNV

The Smoke Free Village program

Goal

Encourage and enable people to sustainably change their cooking behavior and transition from firewood stoves to electric or gas cookstoves.

Projects

Cambodia (31 villages in the Chum Kiri district, 53,500 people) from March 2024 to December 2026

Nepal (27 villages in the provinces Karnali and Sudurpashchim, 65,800 people) from January 2025 to December 2026

Expansion into additional project regions from 2027 to 2030

The three pillars of the Smoke Free Village program

1. Extensive Behavior Change Program

Under SNV’s guidance, local authorities and dedicated Smoke Free Village committees implement a comprehensive behavior change program, including village meetings, cooking events, door-to-door visits and school activities.

The aim is to raise villagers’ awareness of the health risks associated with firewood cooking and to encourage them to purchase and use electric or LPG cookstoves. Costing around USD 15 to 80, these clean cookstoves are affordable for most households and protect families from harmful smoke while reducing fuel costs compared to purchased firewood.

2. A selection of proven electric and LPG cookstoves and connections to local dealers

The program recommends a selection of tested, efficient cookstoves and connects users with trusted local retailers to facilitate access.

3. Community support for most vulnerable households

Following the principle of “leaving no one behind,” communities mobilize local resources to help the most vulnerable households gain access to clean cookstoves.

Promising results in Cambodia and Nepal after 2.5 years: almost 65’000 already people benefit from the transition to smoke-free cooking

Results Cambodia

Within two years, most households across the project region have transitioned to smoke-free cooking.

Since the project began in March 2024, 3,500 awareness-raising activities have reached around 41,000 village residents. As a result, 97% of households now own a gas or electric cookstove. Most importantly, these cookstoves are being used: 64% of households now cook exclusively smoke-free (compared to 3% at project start), while a further 24% cook primarily smoke-free (also up from 3% at project start). Thanks to this transition, more than 43,000 people, particularly women and children, are significantly less exposed to harmful smoke.

The transition to smoke-free cooking protects more than 43,000 people from harmful smoke.

Results Nepal

Building on the success of the program in Cambodia, Franke is supporting SNV in implementing the Smoke Free Village approach to Nepal. The aim is to demonstrate the effectiveness of this innovative behavior change model and help reduce the severe health impacts of cooking with firewood – one of the leading causes of premature deaths in the country.

The program was launched in 2025 across 27 villages in western Nepal and is already delivering encouraging results:

The share of households owning a gas or electric cookstove has increased from 50% at the start of the project to 83%. More importantly, these cookstoves are increasingly being used in daily use: 50% of households now cook primarily or exclusively smoke-free, compared with 19% at project launch. As a result, 18,500 people are already benefiting from significantly cleaner indoor air in their homes.