Winrock international is a non-profit development organization working with poor and disadvantaged women and men around the world to increase their economic opportunity, sustain natural resources and protect the environment. Winrock works in household energy and health, seeking to assist communities in developing countries address negative health, environmental and socio-economic impacts of household cooking and heating through solutions that are participatory, technology-neutral and efficient, culturally responsive, inclusive of gender considerations, technically and economically feasible, commercial where appropriate, and replicable. In response to needs identified through its agriculture and gender-focused activities, Winrock has addressed household energy issues with a range of approaches, supporting regional exchange of experiences, micro-enterprise of cooking technologies, policy dialogue, and through current activities is undertaking household energy surveying and indoor air pollution monitoring. Both USAID and USEPA are working with Winrock under cooperative agreements to assemble and disseminate lessons learned from household energy programs and projects, and to develop and implement more effective approaches that effectively reduce maternal and child exposure to indoor air pollution through integration of behavior change communications, technology standardization, innovative commercialization strategies, and exposure monitoring.
Contact Information
Our Focus
Kenya - peri-urban households in Ngong and Rongai slums, women who are mostly unemployed or involved in the informal sector; Philippines - rural households in Southern Mindanao, predominantly fishing communities, small scale study in a total of 120 households over 3 areas; Ethiopia - Winrock to conduct monitoring and evaluation of Shell Foundation's pilot of ethanol stoves, 1000 stoves will be disseminated in urban households; Guatemala - working with local partners to incorporate biomass and household energy in broader bioenergy policy.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
In the Philippines, Winrock is assessing women's perceptions, beliefs and knowledge about indoor air pollution through focus group discussions and a household energy survey. Both the FGDs and the survey address barriers to the adoption of improved stoves and fuels. As part of Shell Foundation's Breathe Easy Initiative, Winrock is working with local partners to implement a social marketing campaign in Kenya which will include Shell Foundation funded household energy projects implemented by partners such a SCODE and IT Power.
Winrock's Shell Foundation and USAID supported project in Kenya has a strong market development aspect. Under the project, Winrock and partners are providing women entrepreneurs in Ngong and Rongai slums with technical and financial support to scale up production of fireless cookers and stove liners.
In conjunction with Winrock's household energy and health survey effort in the Philippines, Winrock is piloting an indoor air pollution monitoring protocol in 30 of the 120 households being surveyed. These households will be monitored for area levels and personal exposure to particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO). The monitoring protocol was adapted from ITDG's methods with inputs from experts at ITDG, WHO, JSI, and the universities of Liverpool, Berkeley and Illinoios.
Relevant Publications or Studies
None noted
Our Contribution to the Partnership
Winrock International serves as the Coordinator of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, in cooperation with USEPA. Winrock has co-organizing various Partnership related events and assisting with the development of guidelines and protocols. As an organization initiating several household energy and health projects, we would like to share our experience with other Partners and collaborate on initiatives where our skills will be most effective.
