On the road to smoke free districts in Cambodia

Significant strides are being made in promoting clean cooking practices in Cambodia, particularly in the Chum Kiri district, with the support of FRANKE—a global supplier of products and services for domestic kitchens.

With funding from FRANKE, SNV's work has expanded to the district of Chum Kiri, Cambodia. Training is designed to enhance the capacity and confidence of participants to effectively use SFV BCC tools, such as village meetings, door-to-door visits, and cooking fair events, to change villagers' cooking habits and increase demand for clean stoves and fuels. Training also covers using SFV logbooks to monitor project activities and highly participatory methodologies. The hands-on nature of the training ensures that participants can apply what they have learned in real-world settings, increasing the likelihood of successful SFV BCC implementation. 

This approach is quickly understood and adopted at the community level, especially in communities previously sensitised to WASH or health behaviour change messaging. This most recent expansion noted that including field practice sessions and reflection after the practices allowed participants to apply their newly acquired skills and learn from real-world experiences. Likewise, pre-and post-training assessments clearly measure the participants' increased capacity and confidence in conducting SFV BCC activities. 

SNV has identified significant potential for replicating the SFV BCC training approach in other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where access to clean cooking solutions remains challenging. By building the capacity of local authorities and focal persons to effectively communicate the benefits of clean cooking and facilitate behaviour change, this approach can contribute to the increased adoption of clean stoves and fuels. This training model can be an example of engaging local stakeholders to create sustainable demand for clean cooking solutions, ultimately contributing to improved health, livelihoods, and environmental outcomes. The SFV BCC training approach empowers local authorities and focal persons to drive behaviour change and unlocks demand for clean cooking solutions in their communities.

To enable long-term transformation, collaborating with local clean cooking solution providers and entrepreneurs could create a more comprehensive ecosystem for promoting clean cooking. SFV BCC activities drive demand, and private sector partners ensure a reliable supply of affordable, high-quality stoves and fuels.