Dynamic market for improved cooking devices in Kenya
EnDev Kenya has initiated a dynamic market for improved cooking devices with over 1.3 million disseminated stoves. This massive output remendously reduces health hazards and the pressure on forests. Forests are vital to Kenyan society. 77 percent of the country’s primary energy supply
is based on traditional biomass, mainly wood. Kenyan forests are also important groundwater distillation areas. Moreover, the East-African country produces 70 percent of its electricity with water.
The forest cover has declined to a low of 1.7 percent, however. This is by far under the global recommended cover of ten percent. One important reason for deforestation is the massive use of firewood for cooking which has also been driven by the rapidly growing population. Due to the huge demand, the supply of wood energy is not sustainable. The country consumes much more firewood than nature is producing.
This excessive consumption leads to further deforestation, which in turn aggravates land degradation and droughts. Consequently, firewood consumption has to decline on a large scale. Modern stoves can save up to 70 percent of wood fuel in comparison to open fires. What is more, efficient stoves save lives since they provide almost smokeless cooking. After all, the acrid smoke of inefficient cooking with biomass and coal is responsible for the death of nearly two million people each year according to the World Health Organization.
These have been good reasons for promoting improved cooking devices and for establishing Energising Development Kenya. The project started in November 2005 and is part of the ongoing global German-Dutch-Norwegian Energy Partnership programme, Energising Development (EnDev). The project promotes access to modern energy, including efficient cooking energy.
The intention of the Kenyan programme is to develop a sustainable market for modern cooking devices. This is done through the support of sustainable production and marketing of improved cook stoves. The purpose is to develop a sustainable market for modern cooking devices.
The approach has been very successful. But what are the reasons for this success? What are the key elements of the approach? Which lessons can be learned? What are the achievements since November 2005? This report details the required preconditions, discusses the methods used and provides an outlook. The aim is not only to deliver the facts and methods but also to provide an inside view into Kenyan kitchens, to portray various people and to show how they became part of the solution.
