The government of Kenya has announced plans to curb the country’s strong reliance on solid biomass fuels by 2028. This is especially in rural areas where over 80% of the households depend on firewood and charcoal as their primary sources of cooking fuel.
To achieve this, the government will collaborate with clean cooking sector stakeholders and support the development of appropriate policy frameworks. This will include increased funding for clean cooking, and development of sustainable markets specifically LPG, electricity, clean biomass solutions, ethanol, and biogas.
In Kenya, up to 34% of wood fuel harvested is unsustainable, contributing to environmental degradation and climate change. Approximately 70% of households in Kenya still use a type of wood-stove as either their primary or secondary cook-stove, with a greater prevalence of 92% in rural areas. This corresponds to 64.7% of households in Kenya using wood as their primary cooking fuel.
It is estimated that complications from Household Air Pollution (HAP) through inefficient stoves and fuels in claims 21,560 lives annually in Kenya according to a recent study by the Kenya Cooking Sector. The most affected people are the women and children below the age of 5 who spend most of their time with their mothers.
Speaking at the launch of the clean cooking week 2021 Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy Maj. Gen. (Rtd). Dr. Gordon O. Kihalangwa said, “As a government, we have committed to gradually phase-out of the use of charcoal in urban areas by 2028 and transition all public institutions from use of biomass cooking fuels to higher tier cooking Solutions by 2025. Further, we will accelerate the adoption of and use of clean cooking technologies and fuels to 100 % by 2028.”