World Bank FOREST Program Targets 500,000 DRC Cookstoves, With 110,000 Due in 2026
Updated
Updated · World Bank · Jul 24
World Bank FOREST Program Targets 500,000 DRC Cookstoves, With 110,000 Due in 2026
1 articles · Updated · World Bank · Jul 24
Summary
110,000 clean cookstoves are on track for delivery in the DRC this year under the World Bank-backed FOREST program, the first phase of a plan to reach 500,000 households.
$20 million in IDA and ESMAP financing supports a results-based model launched in February 2026, paying local companies for verified stove sales rather than upfront inputs.
500,000 households—about 2.5 million people—are the end target, with 25% of recipients meant to be female-headed households and Phase II aiming to add 390,000 more units.
295 jobs have already been created by supported operators, while the program says cleaner stoves should cut charcoal use, reduce indoor air pollution and ease pressure on forests alongside 120,000 hectares of agroforestry.
The effort also feeds into the DRC's Mission 300 goal of bringing clean cooking to 40 million people by 2030, building on an earlier World Bank project that delivered more than 80,000 stoves.
Will 500,000 cleaner cookstoves by 2030 deliver real health and forest gains, or do verified sales hide the harder challenge of daily use?
Could carbon finance and stronger stove standards make Congo’s clean-cooking push a model for scaling local jobs, affordability, and forest protection?