Qori Q'oncha
Families in Peru use clean cooking technology
to improve their quality of life and fight against climate change.
Context
In the highlands of Peru, where temperatures can drop below 0°C during the winter, households use biofuels to prepare their food and heat their homes. It is important to note that in these harsh conditions, an open fire stove is often the only technology available. As a result, respiratory conditions related to air pollution in homes are common.
Additionally, these open stoves are inefficient and consume large amounts of biofuels; generating additional pressure on Andean forests and forest plantations.
Qori Q'oncha was created to address these challenges. Switching to improved cookstoves reduces firewood consumption, lowers carbon emissions. It also expels harmful gases out of the user's home, while helping to contribute to the conservation of forests.
The families that use the improved cookstoves enjoy a better quality of life by reducing the overall environmental impact.
Program Details
WHERE AND WHEN:
Peru, Latin America - 2008
TECHNOLOGY:
Improved Cookstoves
PROGRAM CERTIFICATION:
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
Awards:
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The program
Qori Q'oncha – Peru was created to help face these challenges in an innovative way. Evidence shows that the adoption of improved stoves reduces the amount of firewood used, lowers carbon emissions, and expels toxic gases out of users' homes.
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Context
The Program has been adapted to meet the needs of local communities, after analyzing current public policies and identifying the gaps on which our contribution can generate impact. The combined action of these initiatives allows the project to be founded and adapted to the local context. Maintaining the participation and empowerment of local communities is also key to ensuring the long-term success of the Program. This is one of the big reasons why we work closely with local communities, in order to ensure that the most appropriate solution is implemented and maintained over time.
golden cookstoves
Qori Q'oncha, which means “Golden Kitchens” in Quechua, was the first program to be registered with the Gold Standard quality label (2008), the first program to implement improved stoves and to issue low-carbon contributions. It has generated six grants of low carbon contributions corresponding to 2.2 million euros issued to different local partners for the sustainability of their projects. It currently includes projects in six regions of Peru: Piura, Cajamarca, Huancavelica, La Libertad, Pasco and Junín.
Social impact
To date, more than ten years after implementing the first improved stove, Qori Q'oncha not only supports families to adapt to the effects of climate change, but also contributes to the restoration of Andean forests. The Program also supports families to improve their quality of life, since it reduces pollution inside homes and allows them to have more time for other income-generating activities.
IMPACT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE PROGRAM
Qori Q'oncha is proud to be the first Improved Cookstove Program in the world to be certified to the prestigious Gold Standard. The positive impacts on our communities and our planet are carefully measured and reported as contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), defined by the United Nations Organization.
Beneficiaries
“Thanks to my new kitchen I don't have to spend as much time collecting firewood and I have more time to dedicate myself to agriculture”
congratulations cordova torres
“Before, black smoke covered my entire house, now it's not like that anymore, with this stove I can save firewood and money”
Lorenzo Gonzales