Building Resilience: The Role of Greenway Cookstoves in Disaster-Prone and Climate-Vulnerable Regions

In a world increasingly affected by climate change, rural communities face heightened risks from natural disasters like floods, droughts, and extreme weather. For households in these regions, traditional cooking practices, which often rely on open fires or fixed stoves, pose additional challenges. Greenway Grameen’s clean cookstoves offer a resilient and adaptable solution for these vulnerable areas, helping communities reduce fuel consumption, improve health outcomes, and adapt to environmental uncertainties.

Greenway stove user in flood-prone Assam

Our stoves are designed not only to reduce carbon emissions and smoke exposure but also to be portable and durable, making them well-suited for communities that face displacement or relocation due to natural disasters. This flexibility allows families to take their stoves with them, ensuring access to safe and efficient cooking regardless of their circumstances. Here’s how Greenway’s clean cooking solutions are making a difference in disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable regions.

In many rural areas, local ecosystems provide the primary sources of food, water, and fuel. However, these natural resources are increasingly strained by the effects of climate change, making it harder for communities to maintain their livelihoods. Frequent droughts reduce water supplies, extreme heat accelerates soil degradation, and deforestation depletes vital forest resources. In this context, traditional cooking methods contribute to a dangerous cycle: they consume large quantities of fuelwood, which leads to deforestation, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity. The more degraded the local environment becomes, the more vulnerable these communities are to the impacts of climate change.

Furthermore, traditional cookstoves are often fixed installations that cannot be moved easily, leaving them vulnerable to damage during natural disasters such as floods, landslides, or cyclones. When disasters strike, these immobile stoves become unusable, leaving families without safe cooking options. Greenway’s portable, durable cookstoves provide a crucial alternative, allowing families to prepare food safely and efficiently even in the most challenging circumstances.

Stove user in flood prone, Assam

Greenway’s Portable, Durable Design: A Key to Disaster Resilience

Greenway cookstoves are engineered with a focus on durability and portability, essential features for communities that face frequent displacement or relocation. Built from anti-rust aluminum, Greenway stoves are resistant to corrosion and designed to withstand the rigors of daily use in various conditions. This lightweight yet sturdy construction means families can easily carry their cookstoves with them, a necessity in regions prone to flooding, landslides, or other natural disasters.

This portability is a distinct advantage over traditional cookstoves, which are generally fixed in place. When disaster strikes, families often have no choice but to leave their traditional stoves behind, compounding the difficulties they face in the aftermath. With Greenway stoves, however, families can take their cooking solutions with them, ensuring they retain access to safe, efficient cooking regardless of where they are. This is particularly critical in disaster-prone areas, where access to fuel may be limited, and the need for efficient fuel use becomes even more pressing.

Real-Life Impact: Stories of Resilience and Adaptability

Greenway’s cookstoves have proven invaluable in regions across India and Sub-Saharan Africa, where communities face regular environmental challenges. In the flood-prone state of Assam, India, Greenway’s portable stoves have become essential for families who must relocate during the monsoon season. For these households, having a portable cookstove means they can continue to cook safely and efficiently without depending on traditional fixed stoves, which are often damaged or left behind in floods.

For example, a user named Sita from a village in Assam shared how Greenway’s stove has helped her family during annual floods. Each monsoon season, Sita and her family move to higher ground, and with Greenway’s portable cookstove, they can cook with ease despite being away from home. Previously, the family had to rely on makeshift, open-fire setups after abandoning their traditional fixed stove, exposing them to dangerous smoke and reducing their cooking efficiency. Now, with the Greenway stove, they have a dependable and safe cooking option, even during relocation.

In Zambia’s arid regions, where Greenway has partnered with local organizations to distribute stoves, families have also seen significant benefits. Given the region’s scarce fuelwood resources and susceptibility to drought, the high efficiency of Greenway stoves allows families to cook with minimal fuel, helping them adapt to an environment where traditional cooking practices are no longer sustainable. By reducing the amount of firewood needed, Greenway stoves protect the local environment and reduce the burden on families to gather and store large quantities of fuel in uncertain conditions.

Stoves distribution to vulnerable areas by Kasanka Trust

Why Clean Cookstoves Matter in Disaster-Prone Regions

For communities that face frequent environmental challenges, clean cooking solutions like Greenway’s offer a pathway to resilience. By decreasing reliance on biomass fuels, Greenway cookstoves help reduce the environmental degradation that increases vulnerability to disasters. Health and economic benefits are equally important. When families can cook with a fuel-efficient, low-emission stove, they experience fewer respiratory issues, save time on fuelwood collection, and spend less on healthcare. In the long run, this improved well-being contributes to stronger, more resilient communities.

The portability and durability of Greenway stoves also give families a sense of security. Knowing they have a reliable cooking solution that can withstand harsh conditions or be carried with them if they need to evacuate provides peace of mind in regions where change is constant and unpredictable. In times of displacement, having access to a portable cookstove can make a significant difference in families’ ability to adapt and survive, reducing their dependence on emergency food services and enabling a degree of self-sufficiency.

Stoves distribution to displaced households by Mumbai Police

Greenway’s Broader Commitment to Climate Resilience

Greenway’s work aligns closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). By distributing high-efficiency cookstoves that reduce emissions and conserve natural resources, we are actively contributing to a future where vulnerable communities have the tools they need to thrive in the face of climate change.

Our work in disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable regions is about more than just clean cooking—it’s about helping communities build resilience, reduce environmental impacts, and achieve greater stability. As we expand our reach, we remain committed to designing products that support adaptation and create pathways to sustainable, long-term development.