A loan helped a loan provides rural Bangladeshi homes access to clean cooking, preventing daily health risks from wood smoke exposure.


Atec Bangladesh's story

CHALLENGE: Over 65% of Bangladeshi households rely on highly polluting wood stoves, causing indoor air pollution that claims 100,000+ lives annually, predominantly among women and children. Financial constraints hinder Bottom of the Pyramid households from adopting cleaner alternatives. ATEC, a leading electric cookstove enterprise globally, intends to assist 300+ such woodstove-dependent households in Bangladesh through its groundbreaking Cook-to-Own initiative, utilizing global carbon finance.

SOLUTION: Households contribute a small one-time initial payment for state-of-the-art smart (IoT) induction stove, comfortably manageable within their monthly income. ATEC covers the remaining costs, offset by 100% data-verified carbon credits generated from daily cooking. Upfront project financing is provided by Kiva lenders, who recoup their investment through payments for carbon credit sold to ATEC's global partners like Engie and Fair Climate Fund. See the transformation in our user Kumola's life with her new eCook in the image.

YOUR IMPACT: Your support will impact over 300+ poor households in Bangladesh. It allows extending the Cook to Own program, offering a tangible solution to energy poverty, and helps combat serious respiratory diseases and premature death. By saving a minimum of 400 hours weekly across 300+ households, particularly benefiting women responsible for collecting and using fuelwood for cooking, this initiative contributes to increased household income.


This loan is special because:

Turning Clean Cooking into Profits for Bangladeshi Women in Carbon Markets



Loan details


Lenders and lending teams




Loan details