TLDR: Seeking connections in sub-Saharan Africa, especially distributors, pellet producers, or agricultural companies interested in collaborating to make clean cooking accessible to all.
Hi! I'm Kars, a newcomer to both the working world and this forum, but I've been actively involved in the EA community for some time. I recently joined Mimi Moto, a Clean Cooking company, for my first 'real' job. One of my tasks is creating business relationships, but this is quite hard to do remotly, since I am not physically located in our market. That's why I decided to write this post. I could use your insights and connections!
Mimi Moto is a Clean Cooking company, producing a biomass cookstove. I believe clean cooking should be a cause that is prioritized. According to this great post by Sanjay, implementing clean cookstoves may be competitive with GiveWell-recommended charities.
The Mimi Moto cookstove is the most cost-effective cookstove in making clean cooking accessible to all, according to this Nature article. In this research the authors compared different clean cooking solutions on their affordability, effects on health and climate reductions. The Mimi Moto cookstove came out as the most affordable solution.
Our stove is biomass fueled. We use a gasification technology to burn biomass pellets. These pellets can be made from local agricultural residues, creating a sustainable chain converting waste in something useful.
Why this post? While Mimi Moto has sold over 70,000 cookstoves in 25+ countries, we are currently facing challenges in scaling up. Our primary hurdle lies in finding the right partners for distribution. We have (one of) the best product(s) on the market, but not yet found the right partners. That is why we are actively seeking connections in sub-Saharan Africa, especially distributors, pellet producers, or agricultural companies interested in collaborating. You would help me/us immensily by providing some details!
Do not hesitate to connect me with other (related) questions on clean cooking or Mimi Moto! I would be happy to help.
More information on clean cooking can be found here:
- https://cleancooking.org/
- http://catalog.cleancookstoves.org/