Guest Blog: Investigating the Health Impacts of Cookstove Pollution in Honduras

Women emerge from the mist carrying bags of potatoes in Zacate Blanco.

by Bonnie Young, Colorado State University

When you think of torrential downpours, mud-slick roads, and backcountry hiking, you might imagine an exciting episode of “The Amazing Race.” Our fieldwork in rural western Honduras was similar, although we lacked a camera crew and the promise of a grand prize.

As a postdoctoral researcher with Colorado State University (CSU), I worked side-by-side for two months with Sarah Rajkumar, another CSU postdoc, Jon Stack, a CSU volunteer, and Gloribel Bautista, a local coordinator. Our goal was to work with communities to enroll 500 women in villages in Yamaranguila and Intibucá. This was our first step in a three-year project to investigate the health impacts of cookstove-based pollution, and to learn about women’s perceptions and behaviors with different stove types.

Beautiful views in this agricultural region in western Honduras, which boasts the highest elevation in the country of over 6,000 feet.

Most people in this agricultural region use wood-burning stoves to cook, heat their home, dry clothes, and generate light. Poor-functioning and inefficient stoves create household air pollution and demand excessive amounts of wood, meaning harmful effects on people’s health and the environment. Women and children often have greater exposure to indoor smoke since they tend to spend more time in the kitchen.

Knowing the importance of this research and its potential impacts fueled our daily slogs from house-to-house during the rainy season, where every hot cup of coffee and fresh corn tortilla felt like a grand prize.

From left to right: CSU field team researchers, Jon Stack, Bonnie Young, Sarah Rajkumar, and Principal Investigator, Maggie Clark.

Note: The principal investigators of this study are Jennifer Peel, Ph.D., and Maggie Clark, Ph.D. Our work is in collaboration with Trees, Water & People, and a local Honduran development organization, AHDESA. Stay tuned for updates on this project during our next field session, February – May, 2015.

Community meeting in Zacate Blanco to introduce ourselves and explain the project.

Speaking on the local radio show with Don Jose “Chepe” in Yamaranguila to broadcast our research in the region.

From left to right: Local coordinator, Gloribel Bautista, and CSU postdoctoral researchers, Bonnie Young and Sarah Rajkumar.

The muddy road prevails over the 4-wheel drive truck.

Counter Culture Coffee Supports Clean Cookstoves in Honduras

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Recently, in partnership with Counter Culture Coffee, we built 86 Justa clean cookstoves into the kitchens of Café Orgánico Marcala (COMSA) producers in Marcala, La Paz, Honduras, via the technical assistance provided by La Asociación Hondureña para el Desarrollo (AHDESA). In all, 626 family members of COMSA producers in and around Marcala will benefit from cleaner indoor air, more disposable income, and will use less than half the wood required by their former cookstoves.

Trees, Water & People would like to thank the Counter Culture Coffee team for their dedication to providing high quality coffee to those who appreciate it, while, at the same time, giving back to the communities that produce the product. Over the lifespan of these cookstoves, 645 tons of CO2 will be avoided, reducing the amount of hazardous greenhouse gases in our global atmosphere that are leading to climate change.

Photo of the Week: Rolando’s Family Breathes Easier

Rolando (center), an employee of TWP's partner organization AHDESA, helps to build, install, and maintain clean cookstoves in Honduras, including the cookstove in his own home. With the use of these stoves, his wife and children are able to breathe easier now that up to 90% of the smoke is removed from their kitchen.

Photo of the Week: Directors in the Field

Richard Fox (Left), TWP's National Director, stands with Stuart Conway, International Director, during a recent trip to visit our projects and partners in Honduras.

Good work by our partner AHDESA

I feel like a proud father. AHDESA, our partner in Honduras, applied for this grant on their own from GVEP, a fund managed by World Bank, Winrock Int’l, and other partners to fund 750 stoves for southern Honduras. They were awarded the grant and have now completed the work. When I first started working with AHDESA in 1995, it was a one-man show, run by Ignacio “Nacho” Osorto. Now, AHDESA has more than 10 people working for them and Nacho’s son Benjamin is working for AHDESA and wrote the grant report. Check it out:

http://www.gvepinternational.org/_file/495/AHDESA-GAPFund%20completion%20report%20final.pdf

Stuart