Cook stoves are the most common way of cooking and heating food
in developing countries. Developing countries consume little
energy compared to developed nations; however, over 50% of the
energy that they do use goes into cooking food. The average
rural family spends 20% or more of its income purchasing wood or
charcoal for cooking. Living in the city provides no refuge
either as the urban poor frequently spend a significant portion
of their income on the purchase of wood or charcoal. Besides the
high expense another problem of cooking over an open fire is the
increased health problems brought on from the smoke,
particularly lung and eye ailments, but also birth defects.
Replacing the traditional 3-rock cook stove with an improved
one, and venting the smoke out of the house through a chimney,
can dramatically improve a family’s health. Deforestation and
erosion are often the end result of harvesting wood for cooking
fuel. The main goal of most improved cooking stoves is to reduce
the pressure placed on local