Improved biomass stoves save from 10–50 percent of biomass consumption for the same cooking service provided and can dramatically improve indoor air quality. Improved stoves have been produced and commercialized to the largest extent in China and India, where governments have promoted their use, and in Kenya, where a large commercial market developed. There are 220 million improved stoves now in use around the world, due to a variety of public programs and successful private markets over the past two decades. This number compares with the roughly 570 million households worldwide that depend on traditional biomass as their primary cooking fuel. China’s 180 million existing improved stoves now represent about 95 percent of such households. India’s 34 million improved stoves represent about 25 percent of such households.*1[N38]

In Africa, research, dissemination, and commercialization efforts over the past few decades have brought a range of improved charcoal—and now wood-burning—stoves into use.Many of these stove designs, as well as the programs and policies that have supported their commercialization, have been highly successful. There are now 5 million improved stoves in use. In Kenya, the Ceramic Jikko stove (KCJ) is found in more than half of all urban homes and roughly 16–20 percent of rural homes. About one-third of African countries have programs for improved biomass cook-stoves, although there are few specific policies in place. Non-governmental organizations and small enterprises continue to promote and market stoves as well.