The smoke can cause exposure to particulates at 20 times the level that the World Health Organization considers a serious health risk. Success of the ceramic Jiko in Nairobi and Mombasa did not go unnoticed by many of the women's groups that had organized in rural areas. From these efforts has come a simplified and affordable variant of the ceramic Jiko. The Maendeleo stove borrows the insulating element from the ceramic Jiko without the metal outer covering. A pot placed atop the stove heats almost as quickly as one on a Kenya ceramic Jiko.
Indoor smoke is reduced considerably through more efficient combustion.
Further, a Maendeleo stove is usually placed near a wall of the hut so that smoke can climb along the wall and exit more easily. The Kenyan program has been emulated in a number of other African countries, where the improved stoves continue to gain popularity. Chinese and Indian Programs Higher efficiency cookstoves have been adopted throughout the developing world. The longtime isolation of that huge country has, until recently, made it less influential than Kenya as a model for other developing countries. The Chinese stoves, which burn wood, crop residues and coal, consist of a brick and mortar construction with a chimney that fits in the central living area of a home.