Secretary of State Hilary Clinton announced her commitment to a called Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. The United States will be providing $50 million for five years worth of seeds and 100 million stoves that will be supplied to villages in Asia, Africa and South America. The government plans to have all of these resources distributed by 2020. In addition, numerous private companies made contributions that totaled up to $10 million. The stoves, though inexpensive provide a much more efficient and healthier way for people to cook. On the flip side, they aren't built to be long lasting and will need to be replaced every 2 to 5 years. I found the article to be very interesting because it mentioned that even though this project will help so many people, it will only be reaching about 1/5 of the total population that needs help. I know that there are a lot of people that don't have the modern conveniences that we have to cook food and be healthy, but I was unaware of the magnitude of the situation. Since the stoves don't last a long time, I think that they should set up a system or a chain of stores in order to supply the people with new stoves when theirs breaks.
Replacing the open-pit fires with the solar powered stoves will provide the people, especially the women and children, with safer living conditions. Women and children that live in the houses with the open-pits frequently develop health problems, such as heart problems and low birth weights. It is also going to supply job opportunities for women.
The project will also combat global warming because the open-pit cooking and inefficient methods that they are using now are creating millions of pounds of soot that disrupt the atmosphere. It is also thought to be the second biggest factor that contributes to global warming. By eliminating this method of cooking, we will cut back on a ton of carbon in the atmosphere.
The cookstove project will also help to cut back on deforestation. The people will no longer need such mass amounts of wood to burn, so they will consequently cut down less trees. This will also combat global warming because the trees will help eliminate the carbon dioxide that is in the air.
