Case Study Guatemala - Mitigation Action Facility

Guatemala – Sustainable Cookstoves

Project highlight 2025

Efficient use of fuel and alternative fuels in Indigenous and rural communities in Guatemala

Clean cooking solutions are improving health, reducing emissions, and easing pressure on natural resources. Through improved cookstoves and environmental education, the project supports lasting behavioural change and healthier homes.

134362

tCO2e reduced

25658

people benefitted directly

14594

EUR private finance mobilised

Context

Fuelwood remains the primary source of energy for cooking in Guatemala, accounting for approximately 57% of the country’s total energy consumption. An estimated 2.1 million households, predominantly located in the country’s poorest and most vulnerable municipalities, depend on firewood for their daily cooking needs.

As a result, nearly 70% of Guatemalan households are exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution, placing women and children in particular at increased risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Population growth is expected to intensify this challenge: projections indicate that over the next decade, an average of 65,000 new families per year will rely on firewood as their primary energy source, further increasing pressure on health, livelihoods, and natural resources.

“I never thought that a change, let’s say a small one, could bring me so many benefits. At first there was resistance in my house, my mother did not want to know about changing her stove, but now that we no longer live with smoke, that our eyes no longer cry, we realised the harm we were doing to ourselves. We live better and save money too, because it takes less firewood and less time to cook.”

Petrona Cedillo – Community leader and user of an improved cookstove

One highlight from 2025

The project developed and validated five environmental education guides on climate change, natural resources, efficient energy use, and Improved Cookstoves (ICS), including content on indigenous women and the Maya worldviews, across 106 public schools in coordination with Foundation of Coffee Growing for Rural Development (Funcafé), Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN). A total of 4,218 people, including teachers, students, and parents, were trained.

Community engagement was further reinforced through mural activities in two schools, involving 116 participants, among them teachers, students, and community leaders.

The educational materials developed through the project will also contribute to the update of the National Basic Curriculum, helping institutionalise clean cooking and environmental education in Guatemala’s public education system.

Why this matters

Access to clean and efficient cooking solutions is not only an environmental issue, but also a critical health, gender, and social inclusion challenge in Guatemala. The project demonstrates that long-term adoption of ICS depends not only on technology access, but also on culturally sensitive and family-centered awareness raising that reflects local traditions. By engaging children, parents, teachers, and indigenous communities through educational activities, the project helps build lasting behavioral change and promotes healthier households, all the while reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Back to all case studies