Utsil Naj - healthy homes for all in Mexico

For the past few decades, Mexico has suffered from the adverse effects of climate change. Extreme weather events and increasingly unpredictable patterns have significantly disrupted crop yields – this is particularly devastating for those communities who rely on their crops both for their own nutrition and for ensuring their incomes.

The Utsil Naj programme has been designed as a multi-intervention large-scale programme of activities for Latin America. It disseminates technologies with strong social impacts to poor populations of the continent in order to improve their living conditions in a sustainable way. The project focuses on rural beneficiaries who are often the most vulnerable communities.

Utsil Naj currently operates in Mexico, Guatemala (LINK) and Honduras (LINK), where Microsol teamed up with local partners selected for their experience on the ground and their understanding and relations with the communities benefiting from the programme. To date, the programme has installed more than 22 000 improved cookstoves, benefitting over 100,000 people living in poverty.

One of the cookstove distribution programmes, Patsari, the GIRA’s improved cookstove, was acknowledged with an Ashden Award for reducing the respiratory disease by 30% and eye infections by 50%, this was all thanks to a 70% reduction in indoor air pollution. The technologies of the programme enable the populations to improve their quality of life having direct access to safe water and clean and efficient cookstoves.

Microsol is a social business and reinvests 100% of the revenue generated by the sale of carbon credits back into maintaining and expanding its projects. In addition, Microsol is actively involved in discussions with local governments and works with international organisations to define the roadmaps to scale up stove implementation. Microsol believes that the only way to really make a difference is by understanding and working with both communities and the local authorities.

Project impacts and benefits:



Project impacts include health, social, environmental and economic benefits. The improved cookstoves are great tools for women empowerment, allowing them to cook more quickly, but also to reduce the chore of wood and freeing up time for the education of children. These stoves are also more efficient, therefore reducing CO2 emissions and helping to decrease deforestation thus contributing to the conservation and protection of biodiversity. Below you will find the latest figures obtained during the last project verification.



Goal 1: No Poverty – 46,229 surveyed beneficiaries living in poverty can now access basic services (related to sanitation, clean water and education) more easily.
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being - 98% of the beneficiaries observe that coughing, respiratory diseases and burns occur less often or not at all since the new improved cookstove installation.
Goal 4: Quality Education - 99% of children now have more time to attend school, and 86% declare that they have more time to do their homework.
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy – 9,535 improved cookstoves were monitored to be benefitting families in their daily lives.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth - 54 permanent jobs created for local people.
Goal 13: Climate Action – 98,842 tCO2 saved from being released into the atmosphere.
Goal 15: Life on Land – The use of improved cookstoves has saved 16,608 tons of wood per year; thus, contributing to prevent deforestation, forest degradation and maintain biodiversity.