Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.

Status update — August 9, 2018

Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status, as BURN has decided stop posting new loans to borrowers on Kiva and instead to test out Kiva's Direct to Social Enterprise program as an alternate way of crowdfunding capital for their work. This Lending Partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full and these funds have been distributed to lenders. If and when this partner requests to post loans to borrowers again using Kiva's traditional model whereby they act as a Lending Partner, Kiva will first conduct any additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary.

Partner description:

BURN Manufacturing Corporation (BURN) is a social venture that addresses the global challenges of deforestation, advanced respiratory illness, global warming and poverty. 
 
BURN was created to help meet the enormous need for high-efficiency cook stoves in the developing world, where nearly 3 billion people rely on biomass fuels such as wood, charcoal and dung for cooking. Traditional cook stoves and open fires produce life-threatening smoke. It is estimated that 2 million people globally - mostly women and children - die from respiratory diseases related to indoor cooking smoke each year. 
 
BURN manufactures clean burning biomass cook stoves in Kenya. The cook stoves save families money, reduce CO₂ emissions, and save trees. Additionally, BURN is creating more than 200 sustainable design and manufacturing jobs in Kenya for the production of their cook stoves. 
 
A unique lending approach:
 
BURN focuses on the urban market for stove distribution where there is a high demand for clean cook stoves.
 
Kiva loans go to BURN’s distribution partners in East Africa. Loans are given to small scale distributors to buy 50-150 clean cook stoves. The stoves are manufactured in a facility in Nairobi, making BURN the only cook stove company to fully manufacture its product locally. 
 
Mission statement:
 
BURN Manufacturing Corporation aims to address the global challenges of deforestation, advanced respiratory illness, global warming, and poverty through its production and distribution of affordable clean cook stoves. 
 
Why Kiva works with BURN Manufacturing Co:

Kiva supports BURN’s plans to serve low-income clients with products that have both health and economic benefits. Funding on Kiva helps BURN reach its goals by helping the organization increase its distribution of clean cook stoves. These charcoal-burning stoves pay for themselves in about three months through cost savings. With access to Kiva loans, BURN’s distributors can obtain more stoves at once and reduce shipping and handling costs.