SORDO’s Dan Deegaan — “Environmental Stewards” — clean energy enterprise model is producing measurable change in the homes and incomes of communities across Puntland and Somaliland. More than 400 improved cookstoves have been distributed through a network of women-led clean energy enterprises, reducing the firewood each household consumes, cutting indoor air pollution, and freeing hours of daily labour that women and girls would otherwise spend collecting fuel.
The health impact is the most immediate. Beneficiary households report a 40% reduction in respiratory issues, a direct consequence of eliminating the thick smoke that open three-stone fires produce indoors for hours each day. For families with young children and elderly members, this is among the most tangible changes the programme has delivered.
| 400+ Clean cookstoves distributed | 40% Drop in respiratory issues reported | $80–120 Monthly income per entrepreneur | Growing Women energy entrepreneurs active |
Economically, the model works. Women certified as clean cooking agents earn between USD 80 and 120 per month through the distribution and servicing of cookstoves — a reliable income stream in a context where formal employment for women is rare and often inaccessible. Each agent operates as a micro-entrepreneur: sourcing stoves, managing community relationships, tracking usage and identifying new buyers.
Dan Deegaan now forms the foundation of the YESS project, which is scaling and replicating the model across a new cohort of youth trainees from August 2026. Under YESS, enterprise support expands from clean cooking into renewable energy, digital solutions and agribusiness — with guidance from the Ministries of Youth & Sports and Environment & Climate Change providing policy backing the original pilot did not have.
| “Clean energy is not a charity. When women own the enterprise and earn from it, they protect it, grow it, and teach others.” Dan Deegaan woman entrepreneur, Garowe |
SORDO is seeking funding to expand the Dan Deegaan enterprise network into additional districts in Nugaal and Mudug, where firewood dependency and indoor air pollution remain serious public health challenges.