GCF: Promotion of Climate Friendly Cooking in Kenya

Data from the Kenya Household Cooking Sector Study 2019 shows that, about 7.3 million households use the Three Stone Open Fire (TSOF) compared to about 4.7 million two decades ago.

Thus, instead of more Kenyans adopting clean cooking, a bigger number is still stuck with this traditional mode.

That not only contributes to an increase in the country’s greenhouse gases emissions, but also jeopardises the health of many.

Moreover, approximately, 70 percent of households in Kenya still use a type of woodstove as either their primary or secondary cooking stove, with a greater prevalence of 92 percent in rural areas.

Solid biomass remains a common source of energy in Kenya used by an estimated 68 percent of households.

Therefore, Kenya needs to rapidly expand accessible clean cooking solutions given that only 30 percent of rural households and 54 percent of urban households currently use clean cooking technologies and fuels.

This is the current situation even as Kenya has an ambitious target of achieving 100 percent universal access to modern clean cooking solutions by 2028, as a commitment to contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) agenda.

Additionally, as a country, Kenya has committed to reducing its greenhouse gases by 32 percent by 2030.

Household cooking using firewood, charcoal and kerosene is a major contributor to Kenya’s GHG emissions.

These national targets are yet to be realised due to the lack of an enabling environment; low access to finance for both businesses and consumers; and lack of affirmative policies to support the accessibility, availability and use of improved cooking technologies.

For example, value added tax on improved cookstoves and LPG negates the drive to promote clean cooking as more people need to be encouraged to adopt these solutions.

More than 38 million people in Kenya (or 80 percent of the population) are at risk of household air pollution due to use of solid fuels.

Approximately 21, 560 deaths per year are attributed to this indoor air pollution. This figure is seven times the average number of deaths caused by road accidents.

Women and children are the most vulnerable to indoor air pollution caused by dirty cooking methods, because they spend the most time in the kitchen.