Women Energizing Change Series

Women are a crucial part of the clean cooking sector and their involvement throughout the value-chain is necessary to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030.

To highlight stories of women making an impact in their communities, the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) is interviewing women leaders from around the world who are working to scale access to clean cooking.

Visit CCA’s Women & Clean Cooking page to learn more about the organization’s work to increase the role of women and address gender issues in clean cooking. To suggest someone to be featured as part of this ongoing series, please contact CCA’s Communications team at comms@cleancooking.org.

Supporting Women in the Clean Cooking Value Chain

Aarthi Kanodia is the CEO and Director of Realflame, which produces and distributes liquid petroleum gas stoves and electric cookstoves for clean cooking. CCA spoke to Kanodia about empowering women through the clean cooking value chain and using innovative means to educate young people about the benefits of clean cooking.

Helping Farmers Worldwide Access a Climate-smart Solution for Cooking

Esther Altorfer is the Chief Strategy Officer at Sistema.bio, a social enterprise specializing in producing biogas digesters and training people on how to use them. Altorfer is in charge of driving growth and expanding the organizational base from its Mexico headquarters to new offices in Central America, East Africa, and India. CCA spoke to Altorfer about the importance of biogas as a cooking fuel and its role in empowering women.

An Outsider Becomes a Clean Cooking Leader in India

Nitisha Agrawal is the Founder and Director of the Smokeless Cookstove Foundation, an organization that works with marginalized communities across India, teaching them how to make zero-cost, mud-based, improved cookstoves. CCA spoke to Agrawal about her experience participating in the Women in Clean Cooking mentorship program and its impact on her work.

A Visionary in Ghana’s Sustainable Cooking Landscape

Gloria Boafo-Mensah is a Research Scientist working with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Institute of Industrial Research (CSIR-IIR). She holds a Master of Science in physics and is pursuing a Ph.D. in sustainable energy technologies. She heads the Metrology Division and doubles as the Manager of Ghana’s Regional Testing and Knowledge Center, which involves testing and researching clean cooking fuels in the lab. CCA spoke to Boafo-Mensah about her work as a clean cooking researcher and the impact she has had on the clean cooking sector in Ghana.

Bridging the Gap: Reaching Last-mile Consumers with Clean Cooking Gas

Jane Ekeh is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of GAS360, a platform that is transforming Africa’s energy ecosystem by connecting clean cooking gas retailers to customers and communities, as well as providing access to crucial supplies. Ekeh and GAS360 are helping meet the demand for increased access to cooking gas, improving both women’s health and overall quality of life. CCA spoke with Ekeh about her motivation to co-found GAS360 and how she is helping to empower women.

Integrating Clean Cooking for Peace, Justice, and Sustainability

Anitha Umutoniwase is the Founder and CEO of EcoGreen Solutions Ltd, a Rwandan-based company that manufactures and distributes improved cookstoves and efficient fuel pellets. Her diverse background in business, human resources, and social justice enables her to address the pressing challenges of energy poverty, sustainability, and socioeconomic inequality. CCA spoke to Umutoniwase about her unique journey from peace and justice advocate to entrepreneur defying the odds of gender inequity in the clean cooking sector.

Raising the Bar on Clean Cooking Standards

Agnes Naluwagga is the Coordinator of the Regional Testing and Knowledge Centre (RTKC) at the Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC) at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. She is a member of the Uganda National Mirror Committee on Cooking Standards and a member of the global ISO/TC 285 technical committee on Clean Cookstoves and Clean Cooking Solutions. CCA spoke with Naluwagga about her experiences as a cookstove standards tester in Uganda.

A Young Entrepreneur’s Journey to Expanding Clean Cooking in Botswana

Granny Lesiamang is the founder and CEO of Clauseph Enterprises, a youth-led and impact-driven startup increasing access to clean cooking by manufacturing solid biomass and low-cost, energy-efficient cookstoves. CCA spoke to Lesiamang about her achievements and challenges as an entrepreneur in Botswana.

Women’s Leadership is Critical for Clean Cooking

Concepta Ojwang is the founder of Keyo Technovation, a climate-tech social enterprise that manufactures and distributes efficient and affordable cookstoves to underserved markets in western Kenya. She helps Kenyan women and youth transition to sustainable energy by providing clean cooking solutions as well as business and investment services. CCA spoke to Ojwanga about women’s unique role in supporting the transition to clean cooking.

Rethinking the Elements of a Clean Cooking Transition

Dipti Paudel is a chemical engineer and researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Chennai, India. Her research explores the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in material science, which she hopes will contribute to developing higher-performing and more efficient energy systems. CCA interviewed Paudel about what motivates her work and what other steps must be taken to expand access to clean cooking solutions.

How a Women-led Investment Firm is Supporting Clean Cooking

Nathalie Prado is a Managing Director of Investments at EcoEnterprises Fund, a women-led venture fund with a track record of over 20 years helping to grow businesses in Latin America that directly preserve and restore natural ecosystems, promote climate action, and create social equity concurrent with generating financial returns. CCA interviewed Nathalie about the role of impact investment in expanding access to clean cooking.

Bambie Gadon Panta is the Country Director of The Cookstove Project Nepal. She works to increase awareness of the dangers of traditional cooking methods and to improve the health of women and children. The Cookstove Project builds improved cookstoves for families in Nepal using locally sourced materials and supports them in maintaining and caring for their stoves. CCA interviewed Bambie about her work and the people she serves through the project.

Engineering Her Own Path – and Paving the Way for Others

Rejoice Ntiriwaa is an engineer, researcher, and lecturer at Cape Coast Technical University in Ghana, focusing on bioenergy, renewable energy systems design, and alternative cooking fuels. She received the Clean Cooking Alliance’s 2022 Women Leaders Award in the “Policy, Advocacy, and Research” category. CCA interviewed Ntiriwaa about her experiences and what motivated her work.

Healthy Babies, Empowered Women: One Researcher’s Quest to Expand Access to Clean Cooking

Ellen Boamah was the lead coordinator of a recently completed study in Ghana on how cooking with different fuels and stoves can impact the health of mothers and children. The study was co-funded by the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Thrasher Research Fund. CCA spoke with Boamah about the potential impacts of this study’s critical findings.

Careers in Clean Cooking: Perspectives from Two Women Leaders

As part of its focus on women’s leadership, CCA sponsored Betty Ikalany and Esther Altorfer to participate in the 2021 Vital Voices GROW Fellowship. A year-long accelerator program, VV GROW provides women working in small- and medium-sized companies with personalized business skills and opportunities for career development and networking. CCA recently spoke with Ikalany and Altorfer about their experiences as Fellows.

How COVID-19 Accelerated ATEC’s Shift to Digital Marketing

Even before COVID-19, the Cambodia-based biodigester manufacturing and distribution company ATEC had started implementing online and digital communication strategies. However, the pandemic forced them to rapidly speed up this transition.

How Technology Can Offer Solutions in a Time of Social Distancing

With Nigeria’s COVID-19 health and safety policies prohibiting large gatherings, Amos and her team have had to rethink their sales and marketing approaches. Amos shared how she is using creative communications strategies to reach customers and meet the ongoing demand for clean cooking solutions.

Clean Cooking and Food Security in Times of Crisis

CCA spoke with Kalinda Magloire, Founder of clean cooking company SWITCH S.A., about how her operations have been negatively impacted by widespread lockdowns in Haiti, linked to political protests and to COVID-19. Magloire shared how her company is stepping up to support her community – through clean cooking as well as healthy meals.

Woman Entrepreneur Series: Expanding Access to Biogas During a Pandemic

In the first interview in this series, CCA spoke with Esther Altorfer, Managing Director of East Africa at Sistema.bio, a Mexico-based social enterprise that manufactures, distributes, installs, and finances biodigesters that convert waste into cooking energy and fertilizer. As Kenya began to implement social distancing policies due to COVID-19, Altorfer spoke to CCA about the benefits of biogas and how biodigesters eliminate the need to leave home to collect or purchase external sources of fuel.

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