The State of the Global Clean and Improved Cooking Sector

The International Bank for Reconstruction And Development

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Abstract: With few exceptions,access to clean and improved cooking solutions is limited in much of the developing world,leading to immense human costs. The share of households that cook primarily with wood,charcoal,coal,crop waste,and dung accounts for over half of the developing world's population and,today,is increasing or stagnant in most regions. Dependence on solid fuels,potentially harmful modern fuels such as kerosene,and inefficient and polluting cookstoves is one of the world's major public health challenges,causing more premature deaths than HIV/AIDS,malaria,and tuberculosis combined. The use of inefficient fuels and stoves also imposes significant economic costs on societies that can least afford them and contributes to adverse environmental and climate change effects.