Building global momentum: EnDev’s highlights from the Clean Cooking Forum
As one of the main sponsors, EnDev showed transformation and innovation at the Clean Cooking Forum 2022 in Accra, Ghana. In multiple sessions and a booth at the Innovation Expo, EnDev facilitated exchange to pave the way towards clean cooking for all.
Over 2,4 billion people worldwide still use inefficient and polluting cooking systems. The Clean Cooking Forum provided a framework for knowledge-sharing on this topic, as all relevant stakeholders – including policy makers, entrepreneurs, investors, donors, and other key partners – were represented.
EnDev contributed to a range of topics spanning from eCooking to end-user subsidies. Some relevant insights from EnDev’s contributions at the forum include:
- Finance Masterclass: Going to Scale: The day before the forum officially started, the Energy Enterprise Coach (EEC) and GET.invest organised a finance masterclass in close partnership with SEE-Clean Cooking (see the last bullet on its launch), EnDev, and the Clean Cooking Alliance. Ten higher tier clean cooking enterprises from five different countries were present, including Benin, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zambia. All companies will receive continuous one-to-one support from the EEC after the cohort training. The EEC will deliver business development services (BDS) tailored to the enterprises’ stage of growth, clean energy offering (improved and clean cooking, biodigesters, organic fertilizer and off-grid solar), context, and location. EEC will focus on high priority intervention areas where the greatest impact can be achieved.
- Friend or Foe – The Role of End-user Subsidies in Developing Clean Cooking Markets: The session reflected on the two main camps of opinions on the role of end-user subsidies for high quality stoves and fuels: those who view end-user subsidies, especially freely distributed stoves, as inappropriate tools that risk reducing willingness to pay and distorting market structures, and those that see end-user subsidies as a necessary tool to ensure that socially beneficial solutions like clean cooking are accessible at the last mile and affordable for those at the base of the pyramid. One conclusion from the session was that end-user subsidies may be needed to reach the bottom-of-pyramid households within certain markets, provided they are well-targeted. During the session, Jan Cloin (coordinator EnDev, RVO) shared insights and perspectives based on EnDev’s market-based approaches as well as its Demand-Side Subsidies intervention in cooperation with the World Bank.
- Turning Clean Cooking Commitments Into Action to Achieve Climate Goals: This session focused on country-level efforts to achieve climate goals through clean cooking. As of today, 67 nations include household energy or clean cooking-related goals in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Panelists shared their perspectives on transforming commitments into action. Fredrick Amariati (Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor in Kenya) presented the approach of the project Promotion of Climate-Friendly Cooking: Kenya and Senegal.
- Booth at the Innovation Expo: During the two main forum days, EnDev, in cooperation with MECS, shared a booth at the Innovation Expo, showcasing approaches and experiences regarding the implementation of clean cooking interventions. This included insights on eCooking technologies and projects, on the African Biodigester Component, and reports on behavioural change. The interactive programme with demos, pop-up talks, videos and presentations attracted a wide audience.
- A series of action-oriented meetings hosted by the Clean Cooking Alliance and partners: Here EnDev was invited to participate in working sessions on results-based financing, field monitoring, and user insights. The latter included an exchange on behavioral change and served as a starting point for a User Insights Lab.
- Launch of the SEE-Clean Cooking programme: Finally, the EnDev-associated project Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Environment for Clean Cooking (SEE-Clean Cooking) was launched. The programme aims to increase access to clean cooking solutions in various markets in Africa and Asia by means of over-the-counter clean cooking technology as well as bio-digesters (for an introductory video, please click here). The approach of the SEE-Clean Cooking includes support to companies that provide products and services through technical assistance and access to finance, incentives for companies and consumers by means of results based finance and support to the enabling environment by means of policy support and strengthening business associations. The launch was carried out by Mr. Massimo Mina, Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Ghana and Ms. Katja Lasseur, Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Republic of Ghana.
About the Clean Cooking Forum 2022
Co-hosted by the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) and the Government of Ghana, the Clean Cooking Forum 2022 took place in Accra, Ghana. The aim of the forum is to accelerate progress toward SDG7 and to mobilize access to clean cooking around the world.
