53 million Filipinos still cook over an open fire
Many of us at Nayon grew up around that same fire. We know what it means to our mothers, our lolas, our culture. That's exactly why we built the first registered clean cooking project in the Philippines — not as outsiders, but as Filipinos who believe our communities, our land, and our people deserve so much more.
Cooking sits at the center of life, with the impacts reaching far beyond the kitchen
Open fire cooking isn't just a health issue — it's a time issue, an economic issue, and an environmental one. The smoke from a single cooking fire does more damage than most people realise: to lungs, to forests, to the hours available in a day. Women and children bear the heaviest burden. The cycle continues, quietly, meal after meal, across millions of homes. Addressing how families cook is one of the highest-impact changes a community can make.
It means life — that's exactly what this is about
Buhay is the Filipino word for life. We chose it because this project is about protecting exactly that — the health of families and the health of the environment we all share.
Less smoke, less sickness, and safer kitchens — especially for women and children.
Healthier households strengthen communities. Fewer respiratory illnesses, more energy, more time.
Each Buhay stove reduces both C02 emissions and the wood removed from our forests.
— Proudly working with communities across the Visayas and Mindanao
Where the roads end, our work begins
These aren't arbitrary choices. We work where the need is greatest and where the environmental stakes are highest.
Project Buhay operates across Negros Island and Bukidnon in the Visayas and Mindanao — amongst the most environmentally critical and underserved regions in the Philippines.
Large Indigenous populations
Communities with significant Indigenous Peoples — including Manobo, Ati, and Negrito groups.
High poverty rates
Poverty incidence significantly exceeds national averages, with many families relying on subsistence farming.
Proximity to protected areas
Project boundaries border critical forest reserves and watersheds supporting endemic species.
Highly rural, limited outside support
Many villages are only reachable by motorbike or on foot. Conventional support and opportunity rarely reaches this far.
We're just getting started...
... with a long journey ahead
Data last updated December 31, 2024 — audited annually by an independent firm
Efficient stoves can change a household's trajectory
Built for Filipino kitchens, it fits naturally into the way families already cook, without asking them to change their culture, their fuel sources, or their routines.
No significant habit or cultural change required
Up to 70% less woodfuel than traditional stoves
Up to 90% reduction in harmful PM2.5 released
Built to last 7–10 years using proven local materials
Understanding the impact
How the Buhay stove works
The Buhay stove is engineered with two goals: get more heat to the pot and less smoke into the home. See how a simple change in combustion design makes a measurable difference for Filipino families.
We asked families how they've been impacted
When my husband and I started our life together, we were renting a single room with a shared dirty kitchen. Every morning my husband would leave for an hour to collect wood for the day. The shared kitchen had so much smoke our our eyes would sting. Then the Buhay Kalan (stove) came into our home. It gave us our own cooking space. Wood now lights cleanly with paper and we use far less wood. My husband no longer spends his mornings searching for firewood. Those hours go somewhere better now, to our family, to each other.
"The Buhay Kalan has made our lives much better, we hope it will always be a part of our home."
— Brilliant, New Eden, Bukidnon
Guides along the way
Project Buhay succeeded because of the people already doing the work. Our local partners brought irreplaceable on-the-ground knowledge knowing which communities to prioritize, which households faced the greatest need, and lending credibility to earn the trust of local and tribal leaders whose support opened every door. That same knowledge guided distribution across communities only reachable by motorbike or on foot — where local familiarity was the only reliable map.
Many others contributed time, knowledge, and goodwill beyond what any list can capture. We are grateful to every one of them.
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