Final evaluation of the project “Consolidation of improved cookstoves” (COFIFAM) Guinée

Context of the service

In Guinea, the majority of households, both urban and rural, depend on fuelwood and charcoal for cooking. This poses multiple challenges: environmental (forest degradation, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.), social (time spent collecting wood, gender equality, high prices, etc.) and health (PM2.5 and CO emissions, women and children's health).

A wide variety of cookstoves exist in Guinea, but improved cookstoves remain rare (fewer than a dozen initiatives in this area over the past 15 years) and access to them is uneven depending on the region.

It is in this context that the COFIFAM project has, for three years, set up activities in Maritime Guinea in order to (i) Develop, organize and structure a production and marketing chain for energy-efficient stoves, and (ii) Initiate a brand creation with gender-balanced governance and decision-making.

Services provided

The final evaluation consisted in a two-weeks field mission, preceded by a preparation phase and followed by a drafting phase. Data was collected through document review and field observations/interviews with the project team and beneficiaries (artisans-SMEs, selling women, female users and non-users of improved cookstoves, etc.).

In addition to the traditional evaluation through the OECD/DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability), the mission explored the following issues in depth:

- Women users' attraction for the promoted improved cookstove models ;

- Conditions for the sector's sustainability (training of craftsmen, business model of craftsmen and marketers, etc.)

- Health (PM2.5 and CO emissions) and environmental (energy efficiency and deforestation reduction) impacts;

Eventually, recommendations were made to feed the decisions regarding a potential second phase of the project.

Summary of the service

Final evaluation of the project "Consolidation of the Improved Stove Sector" (COFIFAM) in Maritime Guinea: Field mission and information gathering (document review, direct field observations, interviews with local stakeholders); Evaluation through OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability); Evaluation of specific issues (female users' attraction for the promoted models; improved cookstoves sector's sustainability; health and environmental impacts; etc.); Operational Recommendations.