Highlights from Kenya Clean Cooking Week 2024

By Syprose Ochieng (Gamos East Africa), Dr Jon Leary (Gamos East Africa), Dr Faith Odongo (Ministry of Energy and Petroleum)

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 2024). 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. In this blog, we highlight key discussions from the plenary sessions, the exhibition, and the field visits during Clean Cooking Week.  

Kenya’s commitment to achieving universal clean cooking by 2028 was at the forefront of CCW2024. The State Department for Energy launched three pivotal strategies to guide the sector’s progress: the Kenya National Cooking Transition Strategy (2024) to promote diverse clean cooking solutions, the Kenya National Electric Cooking Strategy (2024) to bridge the gap between electrification access and clean cooking sector, and the Knowledge Management Strategy to enhance data tracking and sector progress monitoring.

Mr. Alex Kamau Wachira, CBS. The Principal Secretary of the State Department for Energy emphasized that clean cooking is a national priority, integral to Kenya’s energy policy. To meet its ambitious targets, the government aims to mobilize $435 million over five years for the Cooking Transition Strategy and $57 million for the Electric Cooking Strategy through diverse funding mechanisms like government allocations, equity debt, grants, and carbon financing. More information on the strategy launch blog.

The week was also made a success with a series of engaging plenary and breakout sessions that highlighted the collaborative spirit required to accelerate clean cooking. The sessions were organized around the following themes:

• Role of Governments: Explored how national and county governments can foster market growth through subsidies, resource allocation, and awareness campaigns.
• Transformative Partnerships: Showcased collaborations across governments, development partners, the private sector, NGOs, and academia.
• Carbon Financing Opportunities: Discussed innovative funding mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Leave No One Behind (LNOB): Stressed on inclusivity in clean cooking initiatives, ensuring marginalized groups benefit equally.
• Tracking Progress: Developing robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to measure the progress and impact of clean cooking interventions, informing future strategies.
• Enhancing collaborative partnerships, cross-learning among sector players, coordination for accelerating investments, and efforts for mass adoption and use of clean cooking solutions within Partner States and the East African Community.

Exhibition Outlook

This year’s exhibition stood out not only for its diverse array of eCooking appliances for households but also for the notable inclusion of eCooking solutions tailored for institutions, marking a significant evolution in the sector’s growth. While previous years emphasized household innovations, 2024 marked a shift toward meeting the needs of schools, hospitals, restaurants, and community centres. This evolution reflects the sector’s maturity, as institutions recognize the potential for enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and improved kitchen conditions.

Notable institutional eCooking advancements included Customized eCooking solutions for larger-scale cooking from companies such as Faith Engineering showcasing their innovative steam cookers and energy-efficient systems, EcoBora grid and off-grid eBoiler and Technotec Energy Systems. Institutional eCooking appliances represent a crucial step forward in making eCooking a mainstream solution. These systems are not just about replacing traditional cooking methods; they are about enhancing efficiency, reducing fuel costs, and contributing to healthier, more sustainable cooking environments for institutions serving large numbers of people. By incorporating larger cooking capacities and advanced energy management features, these solutions address challenges such as grid reliability, high fuel costs, and the need for improved kitchen conditions in institutional settings.

These eCooking solutions attracted significant interest at the exhibition, with companies like Nyalore and Ecobora securing sales during the event. Nyalore sold four appliances, while Ecobora sold an appliance to a local hotel, signalling increased demand for eCooking technologies.

The MECS Kenya team showcased key research outputs from our work in advancing the adoption of modern energy cooking solutions, including the strategies we supported the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP) in developing, our collaborative eCAP programme with Kenya Power, and the ongoing testing of the BioLite BaseCharge battery with SCODE, which sparked significant interest among participants.

Image 6: Ms. Syprose Ochieng walking a crowd of school children through the basics of eCooking. Photo Credit: MECS, 2024.

During the exhibition, we partnered with EnDev and Kenya Power, who through the Pika na Power platform featured live cooking demonstrations using electric appliances. Their mobile demonstration kitchen also implemented under the eCAP programme toured Kajiado County, showcasing to the public how to use electric appliances and doing live cooking demos for the three days we were in Kajiado. In addition, the MoEP’s BCC truck, launched in 2022 and funded by the Green Climate Fund’s Climate-Friendly Cooking Project and GIZ, also toured Kajiado County raising awareness about clean cooking as part of the Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Strategy.

Site Visits

On the final day of the clean cooking week, delegates were taken for site visits, where they could experience clean cooking technologies in action. The first site to be visited was the Ecobora’s oiler Production Site, one of MECS partners who are piloting the institutional eBoiler at Athi River School. Delegates toured the facility in Athi River, where they saw in real time the production process and the work that goes into putting together the eBoilers. They learned about IoT integration in eBoilers, enabling real-time data tracking of cooking times and costs. Ecobora’s exploration of partnerships with Equity Foundation for PAYGO financing highlighted the potential for expanding access through innovative funding models. Delegates were very excited, and we were also joined by the KPLC team.

We then visited Moi Girls’ Isinya Secondary School where the government had launched and installed a 2,000-kilogram LPG system installed through the Accelerated Clean Cooking Action Project funded by UNDP. The school principal shared with us the benefits they have experienced since the LPG was installed; they have significantly reduced cooking time for meals from six hours to two and are saving Ksh 150,000 per term on firewood.

Lastly, we also visited a homestead that had installed biogas. The biogas installation was done by Flexibiogas/Biogas International, and she explained to the delegates how the system works and the benefits of having biogas, especially for rural households.

Conclusion

Clean Cooking Week serves as an exceptional platform for showcasing emerging technologies and bringing together diverse stakeholders across the sector. To discuss and exchange ideas on how to accelerate clean cooking and electricity access in the country. The exhibition highlighted the remarkable growth of the eCooking industry, particularly with the introduction of institutional solutions that will transform cooking in institutions and commercial settings. This evolution shows the sector’s growing adoption of modern energy solutions and its potential to drive change across the country.

***************************************************************************************************************

Featured Image: Dr Jon Leary talking to PS Energy, deputy governor of Kajiado County and delegates about MECS. Photo Credit: MECS, 2024.