nce-sei-2015-transforming-household-energy-sub-saharan-africa-180877fa722c1fa7.pdf

This research paper, prepared by the Stockholm Environment Institute for the New Climate Economy, examines the health, economic, and environmental impacts of traditional biomass cooking in sub-Saharan Africa. It analyzes the challenges of transitioning to clean cooking energy and provides case studies from Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya to identify success factors for scaling up improved cookstove interventions.

• Approximately 700 million people in sub-Saharan Africa rely on traditional biomass for cooking, a number expected to rise to nearly 900 million by 2020 due to population growth outpacing modern energy access.
• Traditional biomass use causes severe health burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in an estimated 600,000 deaths annually, with nearly half occurring in children under five due to acute lower respiratory infections or pneumonia.
• The economic cost of biomass reliance in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at US$36.9 billion per year, or 2.8% of GDP, with US$29.6 billion attributed to productive time lost during fuel gathering and cooking.
• Woodfuel use is considered unsustainable in several 'hotspots' of EastC East Africa, including Eritrea, western Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, as well as parts of West Africa such as Ghana.
• The charcoal sector is a significant economic driver, employing over 7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa as of 2007, but it suffers from a lack of regulation or outright bans that drive production underground and deprive governments of tax revenue.
• Case studies indicate that market-driven approaches and public-private partnerships are more effective for scaling cookstove interventions than supply-driven models based on free or highly subsidized stoves.
• Carbon finance serves as a catalytic mechanism for cookstove projects by providing revenue to subsidize stove prices and requiring rigorous monitoring and evaluation, which improves quality assurance.
• High import duties and taxes act as a barrier to the adoption of clean stoves; for example, in Kenya, import duties, VAT, and railroad taxes can add approximately 47% to the cost of a stove.
• Successful cookstove design requires a 'human-centred' approach that incorporates end-user needs and preferences to ensure consistent and correct use of the technology.
• The document recommends that governments remove taxes and duties on imported clean cooking technologies and establish specialized agencies to coordinate standards, testing, and biomass data.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). nce-sei-2015-transforming-household-energy-sub-saharan-africa-180877fa722c1fa7.pdf. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NCE-SEI-2015-Transforming-household-energy-sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. nce-sei-2015-transforming-household-energy-sub-saharan-africa-180877fa722c1fa7.pdf. n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NCE-SEI-2015-Transforming-household-energy-sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=nce-sei-2015-transforming-household-energy-sub-saharan-africa-180877fa722c1fa7.pdf |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NCE-SEI-2015-Transforming-household-energy-sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendncesei2015transforminghouseholdenergysubsaharanafrica180877fa722c1fa7pdf, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{nce-sei-2015-transforming-household-energy-sub-saharan-africa-180877fa722c1fa7.pdf}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NCE-SEI-2015-Transforming-household-energy-sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }