It’s estimated that more than 2 billion people use polluting stoves - with severe consequences for their health.
The World Health Organisation says 3.2 million people die each year as a result of the household air pollution they cause.
Ruth Alexander finds out why this problem – which also harms the environment – is so difficult to solve.
She speaks to Dr Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency in Paris; Sophie Odupoy from Koko Networks in Kenya; Naramath Lucas Kariongi from the Rural Communities Support Organisation in Tanzania; and Dr Mike Clifford of Nottingham University’s engineering department in the UK.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.
Producers: Hannah Bewley and Rumella Dasgupta.
(Picture: a clay stove with a wood fire lit. Credit: BBC) Show less