The following results are observed to varying degrees and in various combinations (depending on the project); they contribute to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty

• The manufacture and sale of fuel-efficient stoves provide opportunities for generating income.
• Financial savings of up to 40 percent are achieved for households. More money and time are available for growing and procuring food.
• Efficient stoves and ovens make production involving further processing more attractive.

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education

• As up to 50 percent less time is required for gathering wood, more children have increased opportunity to attend school.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• As up to 50 percent less time is required for gathering wood, and as the stoves require less time to cook food, women have more time for income-generating activities.
• Women produce and use improved stoves and thus participate more strongly in economic processes.

MDG 4/5/6: Health improvements

• Better combustion almost entirely obviates the formation of poisonous fumes. As a result of better indoor air quality and reduced pollution, there is less respiratory illness among mothers and small children. 
• Risk of injury to children is significantly reduced.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Natural resources, particularly woodland, are conserved as the need for wood is reduced by up to 80 percent.
• Soil and soil fertility are improved by the return of biomass to the nutrient cycle.

A good example of many of these outcomes is the household energy project in Ethiopia, which has been running since 1998. Here 60,000 households are already using the improved Mirt stove and thereby saving 50 percent of the fuelwood that would have been used by traditional fires. This corresponds to an annual saving of around EUR 1.2 million. Almost 200 manufacturers, half of them women, are now in business; they are financially successful and are creating jobs for others. The Mirt is widely accepted by the population and as a result 34,000 tonnes of wood are saved each year and reafforestation costs of EUR 2.7 million are avoided. As the stove uses less wood, the time spent collecting wood has been greatly reduced. Girls and women save between six hours and three-and-a-half days a week – time which the girls can use for learning and the women can spend working in the fields. Women and children in particular profit from the noticeable reduction of smoke in the kitchens: respiratory illnesses and eye problems have become less common.