Clean cooking can’t wait any longer

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OPINION

By Aisha Zawedde

As Uganda strives to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), clean cooking remains one of the most persistent challenges. The International Energy Agency estimates that 79% of sub-Sahara lacks access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, with most households still using charcoal and firewood as main sources of energy, often used with low-efficiency cookstoves that come with their own challenges.

Clean cooking is emerging as an alternative to addressing various energy challenges, with conversations on the subject gaining global traction. For instance, industry players convened in Paris, France, in May 2024 at the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa. At the summit, 12 African governments, including Uganda, signed the high-level declaration on prioritising clean cooking.

However, beyond the boardroom commitments, a stark reality exists on the ground. Limited access to clean, affordable and reliable cooking energy remains a major challenge in the low-income urban households, including in Uganda. The 2024 National Housing and Population Census shows that four out of every 100 households use clean energy for cooking, while seven in every 10 households use clean energy for lighting. This revelation shows that while households are adopting clean energy for lighting, its use for cooking remains limited.

Addressing such gaps will require a portfolio of localised solutions, such as electricity, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other modern fuels supported by efficient technologies suited to local needs.

However, the cost of clean cooking solutions remains a significant barrier for many potential users. The situation is exacerbated by the perception that cooking using electricity is either too expensive or unsafe. It is further worsened by unreliable electricity supply, unsafe wiring and heavy reliance on biomass energy.

Further, the off-grid solar systems commonly found in informal settlements are designed for lighting and phone charging purposes, with insufficient capacity to support cooking. This disconnect between electricity access and cooking needs increases energy poverty, undermines public health outcomes and contributes to continued deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Encouragingly, emerging technologies continue to give hope. Recent advances in standalone and rooftop solar system technologies, combined with high-efficiency appliances, such as electric pressure cookers, present opportunities to address challenges associated with energy poverty.

A recent study conducted in selected households in Kampala’s suburbs of Kasanga, Kibuye and Makerere tested commercially available solar-powered electric cooking systems under real-life conditions in informal settlements. The study, carried out by Spotlight Kampala with support from Modern Energy Cooking Services, directly responds to SDG7’s call for universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy by 2030.

The study, which demonstrated solar-powered systems (standalone and rooftop) for household cooking in low-income settlements, showed that there is interest among communities to adopt alternative cooking solutions to charcoal, whose price keeps increasing yet access is becoming difficult and the quality reducing.

The transition to modern grid and off-grid electric cooking technologies is not only a technical shift but also a behavioural process that requires time, confidence, and social acceptance. Notably, many people are increasingly integrating e-cooking options in their daily routines and are more open to adopting advanced solutions, particularly those that can help overcome persistent access barriers, including affordability, reliability and safety challenges.

There is a growing readiness and acceptance among the communities to transition to high-efficiency grid and off-grid electric cooking, ushering in the momentum that industry players have been working towards. With targeted products that are user-centred, technical performance, reliable energy storage and embedded local support structures, the solutions have strong potential to become a viable and scalable alternative to charcoal-based cooking for both household and small-scale uses as we draw closer to the United Nations target of ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030.

As countries begin to assess their progress toward the 2030 targets, Africa reconvenes this July, from 9-10 for the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, this time in Nairobi, Kenya. The Nairobi Summit aims to mobilise further financial and political commitments, bringing together governments, industry leaders, investors, development partners and civil society to accelerate the progress towards universal access to clean cooking.