Building momentum for change by creating a community of eCooking-vangelists

Authors: Beryl Onjala (Gamos East Africa), Jon Leary (Gamos East Africa), Jane Spencer (Loughborough University), Philomena Mitalo (Clean Cooking Association of Kenya), Brian Murumba (Clean Cooking Association of Kenya), Syprose Ochieng (Gamos East Africa), Danson Ligare (Elite Pongamia Bioenergy), Irene Wanjohi (KPLC), Murefu Barasa (EED), David Njugi (GOGLA), Dan Waithaka (Wisdom Energy Hub Ltd), Jerad Musembe (Envirolink Limited)

Kenya’s eCooking Community of Practice (CoP) has created a shared space for the clean cooking and electricity access sectors to come together and explore the emerging opportunities for electric cooking. This blog tells the story of the group’s formation and the role it has played in creating awareness of the shifting role of electricity in the kitchen amongst energy sector stakeholders in Kenya.

The eCooking community of practice (CoP) was conceived at the Clean Cooking Week in December 2021. The aim was to create a shared space to facilitate dialogue between the clean cooking and electrification sectors, facilitating the joint exploration of new pathways for action for the emerging electric cooking sector.

The CoP was formed as a strategic collaboration between the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya (CCAK) and the national utility, Kenya Power, leveraging the convening power of these two national institutions to bring together stakeholders from the clean cooking and electricity access sectors.

The CoP brings together a diverse range of stakeholders, from research participants who have experimented with eCooking in their homes to private sector organizations manufacturing eCooking appliances and policy makers leading the development of the National eCooking Strategy.

The CoP keeps in touch via the eCooking CoP WhatsApp group, a mailing list and at in person convenings. While these offer different opportunities for engagement, the WhatsApp group is where the real action is, with wide-ranging discussions happening on a daily basis. Topics range from technical discussions on the relative efficacy of different energy-saving mechanisms employed by modern energy-efficient eCooking appliances to whether its possible to cook ugali in a rice cooker or not.

The CoP WhatsApp group has been particularly useful in changing mindsets and changing the narrative around electric cooking. One of the most active members is Danson Ligare, Executive Director of Elite Pongamia Bioenergy Project Ltd (EPBP). Danson was initially a vocal sceptic of eCooking on the CCAK Sector Champions WhatsApp group.

However, other eCooking stakeholders and users pitched into the discussion and Irene Wanjohi from KPLC Sales Growth team even called Danson to find out about his power outages.

After hearing the perspectives of the other sector champions, Danson started to see the potential for eCooking and was invited to join the eCooking CoP group. He is now one of the most vocal advocates for eCooking!

Creating this shared space for the clean cooking and electricity access sectors has enabled experts from both sides to support each other and explore the new opportunities emerging at the intersection of their two previously separate worlds. The partnerships that are developing in this shared space will enable both Kenya’s electrification and clean cooking sectors to achieve much more than either could have done alone.

The eCooking CoP is growing by the day, with over 200 members now involved. Through the sustained efforts of the convening organizations, the monthly dialogue sessions allow members to engage more deeply on specific topics. These include the latest developments in solar eCooking, eCooking on mini-grids, and the key insights from Techno-Policy Spaces for eCooking report for the eCooking Strategy. There are many more dialogues in the pipeline, which will highlight the different opportunities within the emerging eCooking sector for the CoP members.

If you would like to join the eCooking CoP, reach out to Beryl Onjala on beryl@gamoseastafrica.org.

Featured Image: The role of the eCooking CoP in creating a shared space for stakeholders from the clean cooking and electricity access sectors to engage. Image Credit: Gamos East Africa