Kenya

Overview

37.8M+ (68.4%)

Clean cooking population without access (WB, 2023)

26+

Active clean cooking ventures (Source: CCA)

Number of clean cooking RBFs (Source: CCA)

Despite continued high use of solid biomass, Kenya’s cooking sector is considered by some to be the most advanced in East Africa in terms of both the types of solutions available and the number of people with access to them.

A range of clean cooking technologies are manufactured and distributed by companies in the formal sector in Kenya. These solutions span improved efficiency biomass stoves (using charcoal or wood as fuel), and stoves that rely on clean liquid fuels (biogas, ethanol, and LPG). Despite increasing levels of electricity connections even in rural areas, electric cooking remains low with potential to grow. Solar cooking remains rare in Kenya.

Supply

Demand

According to World Bank data, 31.6% of the population had access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking in 2023; an improvement compared to 28.5% in 2022. In 2023, 62.6% of the urban population had access to clean cooking fuels, compared with just 11.4% of the rural population.

By comparison, there is much better access to electricity in Kenya; 76.2% of the population had access in 2023, slightly up from 76% in 2022.

Click ‘Read more’ to see data from World Bank.

According to the Kenya Consumer Segmentation report (see related resources below), almost eight in ten Kenyan households primarily use solid cooking fuels, primarily wood (63%) and charcoal (15%). In rural areas, 84% of households use wood as their primary source of cooking fuel.

Related Resources

Kenya Consumer Segmentation

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Policy

Click ‘Read more’ to explore relevant aspects of Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution and other policies relevant to clean cooking.

Nationally Determined Contributions

Kenya’s NDC integrates their commitment to clean energy technologies with the aim of reducing overreliance on wood fuels by 2028. The National Climate Change Action Plan 2018-2022 also prioritizes the promotion of the transition to clean cooking with alternative clean fuels such as LPG in urban areas and clean biomass (charcoal and wood) cookstoves and alternatives in rural areas.

However, the distribution and use of improved biomass cookstoves are not enforced by any government law, policy, or regulation, and there is no obligation for households to use improved cookstoves. Kenya seeks to implement its NDC with both domestic and international support, estimating that over USD 40 billion will be required for mitigation and adaptation actions.

The NDC Support Program in Kenya will be implemented jointly with the USAID-supported Low Emissions and Climate Resilient Development (LECRD) project, with the goal of supporting the implementation of Kenya’s NDC. Strategic partnerships among various ministries, departments, and agencies working with the UNDP and other stakeholders will be enhanced to achieve this goal. The program is also engaged in a range of strategic partnerships at the global level.

Source

Kenya NDC

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Carbon

Kenya has 74 registered cookstove projects. These projects have generated 11.8 million carbon credits to date.

Click ‘Read more’ to explore the dashboard.

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Results Based Finance

There are five clean cooking RBF programs that have operated, or are underway, in Kenya.

Click ‘Read more’ to explore the table of RBFs.

Name	Lead	Status	Dates	Applicable Fuels	Fund size for clean cooking	Total fund size
RBF for low carbon energy access	EnDev	Completed	2012-2020	e-cooking, improved biomass, biogas	$15m	$55m
Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP)	SNV, SunFunder	Active	2018-2023	Improved biomass	$5m	$5m
SDG 7 RBF Facilities	Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)	Active	2019-2026	Improved biomass	$14.6m	$24.4m
Renewable Energy and Climate Technologies (REACT)	AECF	Active	2021-2023	Improved biomass, pellets, briquettes, ethanol, and LPG.	$1.7m	$4m
Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA)	Nefco	Active	2022-2027	e-cooking, biogas, pellets, briquettes, and ethanol	$30.5m	$30.5m

N.B. Funding amounts may be split across multiple countries

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