In a global context, cooking smoke is the fifth worst threat to public health in the developing world. Household air pollution (HAP), from burning wood, charcoal, dung, agricultural waste, and other solid biomass cooking fuels, affects 2.7 billion people worldwide, 38% of humanity. Toxic cooking smoke is responsible for over 4.3 million premature deaths a year...that is more than deaths from malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis combined.

In Latin America, household air pollution from solid fuels annually causes 80,000 deaths and 2.7 million disability adjusted life years lost (WHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository 2012). In Guatemala, fifteen Guatemalans die every day in the country from cooking with wood and a staggering 9.6 million people are affected by HAP (GACC 2015). Guatemala has the highest percentage of disease attributable to solid fuel use in Central America (WHO 2012). Wood fuel is used by 94% of rural households in Guatemala, and is responsible for death and major health issues such as acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, low birth weight, perinatal mortality, asthma, tuberculosis, cataracts, and cardiovascular disease (Bruce et. all 2014, EPH).

GenteGas works to convert families to LPG with the goal of reducing their exposure to household air pollution. An impact on health is our primary goal. We believe that the barriers to adoption and use of LPG are tied to lack of access to credit and lack of information about cooking with LPG. Therefore our core focus activities include: 1) Offering in-house consumer credit to unbanked households, and 2) Increasing access to information and empowering potential new customers through community education.

GenteGas' adoption strategy is tied to educational activities through different programs focused to reach the entire community. We educate potential and current users of LPG on how to safely use and cook with gas. We utilize a three-pillar approach and facilitate small group, one-on-one community education sessions through three programs: community, school, and employer.

GenteGas is a high-impact social enterprise dedicated to improving the quality of life of families in Guatemala. GenteGas’ mission is to reduce the entry costs of clean burning gas stoves and fuels as well as provide income generating opportunities with the purpose of eradicating toxic cooking smoke and the associated diseases and death, increasing public awareness about health risks from solid fuel use, alleviating the pressure on local forests, promoting local economic development, and ultimately increasing the quality of life for families in Guatemala.