Cleaner cooking stoves offer hope for 1 billion Africans using wood and charcoal

Almost 1 billion Africans still rely on wood, charcoal, and other fuels that produce harmful smoke, according to the International Energy Agency. But across Africa, cleaner cooking stoves are being brought into homes by cutting the price of electric and efficient biomass models.

For mother of two Mary Kavutha, cooking inside her own kitchen was a luxury she didn’t have until recently. Two years ago, the Nairobi businesswoman still relied on charcoal, taking the stove outside because the smoke made indoor cooking difficult. Now, breakfast starts with an induction cooker, switched on at the wall and controlled with the turn of a dial.

The change wasn’t driven by climate policy, but by the daily calculations that shape household life here. Things like cost, speed, safety, and whether she can cook near her children without filling the home with smoke.

Kavutha says charcoal used to cost her about 150 Kenyan shillings, or 1 dollar and 15 cents, each day. Electricity tokens worth 100 Kenyan shillings, or about 80 cents, now last into the next day and cover several meals.

Kavutha says, “When I compare it with the charcoal, it is very cheaper. Because, like in a day when I was using the charcoal, I find that I am using around 150 Kenya shillings ($1.15) with the charcoal per day. And with this one (induction stove), when I buy a token of 100 Kenya shillings ($0.8), it lasts me to the second day. You find that I have used it (in preparing) my breakfast.”

Kavutha’s switch is part of a wider push to make clean cooking affordable, not only available. The financing behind it works through carbon credits.

When households use less charcoal, firewood, or other polluting fuels, clean cooking companies can calculate the emissions avoided, have those reductions verified, and sell credits linked to them.

That expected revenue helps companies raise money in advance, lowering the price paid by customers who might not be able to afford a stove upfront.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.