- Date
- 18th December 2024
- Categories
- Clean Cooking
By Syprose Ochieng (Gamos East Africa), Dr Jon Leary (Gamos East Africa), Dr Faith Odongo (Ministry of Energy and Petroleum), Philomena Mitalo (Clean Cooking Association of Kenya).
During the Clean Cooking Week 2024, three pivotal national strategies were launched to accelerate Kenya’s transition to clean cooking solutions: the Kenya National Cooking Transition Strategy (KNCTS 2024), the Kenya National eCooking Strategy (KNeCS 2024), and the National Knowledge Management Strategy for the Cooking Sub-Sector in Kenya (KMS 2023). The development of these strategies was made possible through support from a coalition of partners, including the Energy Transition Council, Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS), United Kingdom Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), GIZ Energising Development (EnDev) Programme and Climate Compatible Growth (CCG).
On the 22nd to 25th of November 2024 at KCB grounds in Kajiado Town, the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya (CCAK) in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP) hosted the 5th edition ofClean Cooking Week 2024 (CCW). This event brought together key stakeholders in the clean cooking energy sector such as government representatives, energy sector experts, international development partners, and members of the public. This year’s event was themed: “Strategy to Action: Partner, Invest, and Implement.” Clean Cooking Week 2024 provided a platform to unite partners, encourage investment, and drive the implementation of clean cooking initiatives across Kenya.
Mr. Alex Kamau Wachira, CBS. The Principal Secretary of, the State Department for Energy, expressed optimism about the role of these strategies in shaping Kenya’s energy future, stating that these innovative new policy instruments are reinforcing our commitment to cleaner, safer, and more sustainable energy options for all Kenyans.
MECS is proud to have walked with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to explore what the future of cooking might look like in Kenya. These innovative new policy instruments represent the first of their kind on the African continent, with many other nations already following in Kenya’s footsteps. These strategies would not have been possible without the strong partnerships that underpinned their development:
- Firstly, with the people of Kenya via their appointed representatives within the Government of Kenya.
- Secondly with the sector stakeholders via a participatory process led by local consultancy teams, EED Advisory and Nuvoni Centre for Innovation Research.
- Thirdly, between the various Ministries, development partners and national institutions/associations who made up the coordination committee that oversaw the strategy development phase.
The KNCTS is a multi-fuel clean cooking strategy, positioning clean cooking as a key development priority with multiple complementary solutions. The KNCTS shows how universal access to clean cooking can be achieved by 2028 by harmonising across the many pre-existing fuel-specific cooking sector strategies. The KNCTS proposes a transformation of Kenya’s cooking sector by bridging affordability and access gaps, prioritising local manufacturing and increasing awareness of and accountability for clean cooking. Its goals include reducing dependency on fossil fuels, creating job opportunities, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, leveraging carbon finance, enhancing public health, boosting revenue for electricity utilities, and alleviating the public debt burden.
The KNeCS bridges the gap between electrification and clean cooking sectoral policies. It positions eCooking as a new solution to the clean cooking challenge, as well as a critical driver of demand for utilities, mini-grid developers, and solar home system companies. The KNeCS lays out a roadmap for accelerating the adoption of electric cooking (eCooking) across the country through a coordinated set of interventions designed to strengthen the enabling environment for eCooking, validate innovative eCooking solutions and bridge affordability and access gaps for eCooking solutions. The KNeCS was accompanied by an eCooking Capacity Building and Market Development Programme (eCAP) implemented in partnership with Kenya Power and designed to ensure the sector is ready to deliver at scale.
The KMS aims to outline the data and information required for monitoring and tracking progress in the cooking sector, enabling effective reporting on international, regional, national, and subnational commitments.
As Kenya continues to strengthen its role as a regional leader in energy access, the launch of these innovative new national strategies marks a pivotal step in ensuring that all households, businesses, and institutions can transition to modern energy cooking solutions. During the launch event, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum called on local communities; civil society organizations; fellow Ministries and other government agencies; development partners; and private sector partners to support these initiatives into their implementation phase, fostering a collective effort towards a cleaner, healthier Kenya.
Note: For access to the full strategy documents, and eCooking capacity building and market development programme synthesis report (eCAP) please visit:
- Ministry of energy Website
- MECS website: https://mecs.org.uk/kenya-national-clean-cooking-strategy-knccs/
- https://mecs.org.uk/kenya-national-clean-cooking-strategy-knccs/kenya-national-ecooking-strategy-knecs/
- eCAP Synthesis Report
***************************************************************************************************************
Featured Image: Launch moment for the Kenya National eCooking Strategy (KNeCS) with Mr Alex Kamau Wachira, CBS, the Principal Secretary of the State Department for Energy. Photo credit: CCAK, 2024.