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

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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 and video were provided by The Associated Press.

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[Mary Kavutha, a mother of two, walking into her kitchen to start cooking on her induction stove]

[Kavutha powering on her stove and adjusting the temperatures]

[Kavutha cooking cabbage]

Mary Kavutha (interview): “When I compare it with the charcoal (stove) it is the best. For one, induction (stove) is very fast, it is very safe while using it. For me now, I have babies, it is very safe with the children.”

[Kavutha powering down the stove and removing the steel cooking pot from the stove]

[Kavutha walking into her living room to sit down and eat]

Mary Kavutha (interview): “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.”

[Peter Scott, founder and CEO of BURN at the company’s cookware display tent showcasing its products]

[BURN’s induction stove boiling water]

[Scott showing computer chips used inside BURN’s induction stoves]

[Worker at BURN taking stock of stoves inside warehouse]

Peter Scott (interview): “(The) only way that clean cooking is going to scale on the continent is through carbon project finance, and so it’s a great model. Governments can earn revenue from it, we earn revenue, customers get an amazing product they would never get unless they had that subsidy that’s brought by carbon project finance.”

[Assembly and configuring of BURN induction stove]

[Induction stove being tested]

Peter Scott (interview): “Africa needs about 15 million stoves a year. So right now we do about 2 million stoves a year. So, we are just kind of scratching the surface. But yeah, the goal is to get to 15 million stoves per year. Of course (according to reported UN projections) Africa is going to be 4 billion people by 2100, and so the demand for clean cooking is just going through the roof.”

[Cookware being packaged]

[Induction stove being worked on]

[Exterior of BURN’s warehouse]

George Mwaniki (interview): “If we depend wholly on carbon credits to support the transition, it will be extremely slow, and it will not happen at the pace that we need it. The other issue for carbon market is before you can trade on the carbon market, you need to build the asset.”

[Kavutha’s flat showing neighboring houses]

[Charcoal stove on sacks of charcoal outside a neighbor’s house]

Mary Kavutha (interview): “For one, when I was using charcoal I could not cook in the house. I would have to take the stove outside the house. So, (because of) the smoke, you see. But for this one, it is very safe. Again, it has privacy.”

[Sacks of charcoal]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.