eCooking in Laos: Calmer school mornings for Dao Navong and her family
It’s a familiar morning scene for families across the world on a school day: parents trying to get ready for work, the children need breakfast, and no one can find their shoes. However, for Dao Navong, a mother of two living in rural Lao People’s Democratic Republic, mornings are a little bit less stressful than they used to be now that she has switched to electric cooking (eCooking).
Like more than 95% of households in Laos, Dao’s family home was already connected to the electricity grid, and the country benefits from low electricity tariffs. However, Dao’s family used to rely on biomass like wood and charcoal as their primary source of cooking fuel, as around 90% of the population of Laos still do.
Dao found herself rushing and irritated on a morning, battling with the charcoal stove to feed her hungry children before school. “Sometimes it took 20 minutes just to light. I’d be sweating, fanning it with cardboard, and still not ready to cook,” she says. The delays and smoke often led to arguments with her husband. “He was helping the kids, I was trying to cook, and we’d end up snapping at each other. It wasn’t a good way to start the day.”
Smoke-Free Villages approach
In July 2023, EnDev, through its implementer SNV, launched the Smoke-Free Villages approach in Laos – a behaviour change communications initiative to help communities transition towards cleaner cooking practices.
Dao had heard about electric and gas stoves, but didn’t think they were for her: “I thought they were expensive and slow. With charcoal, I could control the fire. It felt more reliable.” But that all changed when she attended a Smoke-Free Village event run by EnDev. There was a live cooking demo using an induction stove. “I was amazed. The pot boiled in minutes, and there was no smoke at all,” she says. Thanks to the subsidy programme, she felt further encouraged to purchase the induction stove. “At first, I was nervous. I thought my electricity bill would go up. But after a few weeks, I realised it was saving me time and money,” she says. “No more smoke, no more waiting. I just press a button and start cooking.”
« It’s made a big difference »
Now, mornings are calmer. “I can cook and get ready at the same time. We don’t fight anymore. I feel more in control.” Dao estimates that she saves at least 40 minutes every morning, and her electricity bill has only increased by LAK 100,000 ($5) per month, far less than she expected.
EnDev’s and SNV’s Smoke-Free Villages approach in Laos has already supported over 2,000 households like Dao’s to adopt eCooking, and EnDev is working on scaling the approach, aiming for 6,000 households to be cooking with electricity by the end of 2025.
“It’s made a big difference,” Dao agrees. “Not just the savings in terms of money but also saving time in cooking and cleaning the kitchen. The kitchen is looking much cleaner, and I feel better, and my family does too.”
