Firewood access and use in Kenya

Firewood is the primary energy source for cooking and heating for most rural Kenyan households and various bulk users, including schools and tea factories. The sector faces significant challenges, including a growing supply-demand deficit, gender inequality regarding collection burdens, and health risks from indoor air pollution. The document argues that firewood should be formally addressed in energy policy through a multi-sectoral approach involving county governments, agroforestry, and the development of efficient cookstoves to reduce environmental pressure and social burdens.

• Firewood is the dominant energy source for cooking and heating in rural Kenya, with 68.3% of all households in the country relying on it as their primary cooking fuel according to 2005/2006 data.
• Households in Kenya exhibit "fuel stacking," where they use multiple fuel types (such as combinations of kerosene, charcoal, and LPG) to meet energy needs rather than switching entirely to a single, more modern fuel as income increases.
• Beyond households, firewood is used by bulk consumers such as prisons, learning institutions, and the tea industry, where over 70% of small-scale factories use boilers capable of using firewood to lower production costs.
• There is a significant imbalance between biomass supply and demand in Kenya; the deficit was 57.2% in 2002 and was projected to reach 63.4% by 2015.
• Weak enforcement of Kenya Forest Service regulations on wood collection leads to illegal harvesting of young trees, threatening a national forest cover that is already low at 5.9%.
• Firewood collection disproportionately burdens women and children, who may spend at least one day per week traveling long distances, risking physical injury and animal attacks, and in the case of girls, missing educational opportunities.
• The use of inefficient cookstoves, such as traditional three-stone fires, causes household air pollution that primarily affects women and children and is identified as the second leading risk factor for ill health in developing countries.
• Agroforestry initiatives, such as the one in the Kibirigwi Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga County, demonstrate that incorporating trees on farms reduces the distance women and girls must travel for fuel and increases productivity in other activities.

APA

Nyambane, A., Njenga, M., Oballa, P., Mugo, P., Ochieng, C., Johnson, O., & Iiyama, M. (2014). Firewood access and use in Kenya. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/ICRAF-SEI-2014-techbrief-Sustainable-firewood.pdf

Chicago

Nyambane, Anne, Mary Njenga, Phanuel Oballa, Peris Mugo, Caroline Ochieng, Oliver Johnson, and Miyuki Iiyama. Firewood access and use in Kenya. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/ICRAF-SEI-2014-techbrief-Sustainable-firewood.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nyambane |first1=Anne |last2=Njenga |first2=Mary |last3=Oballa |first3=Phanuel |last4=Mugo |first4=Peris |last5=Ochieng |first5=Caroline |last6=Johnson |first6=Oliver |last7=Iiyama |first7=Miyuki |title=Firewood access and use in Kenya |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/ICRAF-SEI-2014-techbrief-Sustainable-firewood.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nyambane2014firewood, author = {Nyambane, Anne and Njenga, Mary and Oballa, Phanuel and Mugo, Peris and Ochieng, Caroline and Johnson, Oliver and Iiyama, Miyuki}, title = {{Firewood access and use in Kenya}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/ICRAF-SEI-2014-techbrief-Sustainable-firewood.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }