The Kenyan Cooking Sector: Opportunities for Climate Action and Sustainable Development

This executive summary describes a study on the residential cooking sector in Kenya, using scenario modelling to evaluate the links between cooking solutions, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, human health, and sustainable development. The study identifies significant mitigation potential and health benefits by transitioning from modern cooking (such as LPG and improved biomass stoves) to clean cooking solutions (electricity, biogas, and bioethanol), while highlighting economic, cultural, and political barriers to this transition.

• Residential cooking in Kenya produced an estimated 24.8 MtCO2e of GHG emissions annually in 2019. While the 2018-2022 NCCAP identifies a mitigation potential of 7.1 MtCO2e through efficient cookstoves and alternative fuels, this study suggests higher potentials by prioritizing clean cooking solutions over modern cooking. Under the 'GF-S' scenario, emissions could be nearly halved by mid-century, and the 'NZ-S' scenario—which involves phasing out solid biomass for electricity, biogas, and bioethanol—could reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.
• Transitioning to cleaner cooking technologies can significantly reduce premature deaths caused by household air pollutants (HAP). The study estimates that the NZ-S scenario could avoid nearly 500,000 premature deaths over 30 years. Other scenarios, IP-S and GF-S, estimate between 250,000 and 300,000 saved lives, while the NDCU-S estimates approximately 145,000.
• The transition to a clean residential cooking sector in Kenya is hindered by three primary challenges: economic/financial barriers (high upfront and fuel costs and poor infrastructure), cultural factors (cooking traditions and the practice of fuel stacking), and political gaps (the absence of a single, comprehensive, sector-wide strategy).
• The study notes that rural areas in Kenya face a risk of being excluded from the energy transition due to ultra-low access rates.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2021). The Kenyan Cooking Sector: Opportunities for Climate Action and Sustainable Development. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-kenyan-cooking-sector-opportunities-for-climate-action-and-sustainable

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. The Kenyan Cooking Sector: Opportunities for Climate Action and Sustainable Development. 2021. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-kenyan-cooking-sector-opportunities-for-climate-action-and-sustainable.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=The Kenyan Cooking Sector: Opportunities for Climate Action and Sustainable Development |date=13 July 2021 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-kenyan-cooking-sector-opportunities-for-climate-action-and-sustainable |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2021kenyan, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{The Kenyan Cooking Sector: Opportunities for Climate Action and Sustainable Development}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/the-kenyan-cooking-sector-opportunities-for-climate-action-and-sustainable}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }