Scaling Climate-friendly Cooking: Project Demonstrates Climate Mitigation and Energy Access Go Hand in Hand

Home News Scaling Climate-friendly Cooking: Project Demonstrates Climate Mitigation and Energy Access Go Hand in Hand

02 April 2026

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Market-based approaches accelerate access to climate-friendly cooking, and the increased usage of low-emission cookstoves contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The “Promotion of Climate-Friendly Cooking in Kenya and Senegal” demonstrated that successfully. After five years of implementation, more than 23.6 million people are using efficient, low-emission cookstoves, and 5.7 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent had been avoided by the end of the project. The project exceeded its targets and provided a model that can be replicated in other countries. 

Delivering on and beyond targets  

The project not only achieved its targets but exceeded them in several key areas, despite the setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This demonstrates the strong potential of market-based approaches to accelerate access to cooking solutions while contributing to climate protection and economic development simultaneously.  

• A total of 23.68 million people gained access to modern energy solutions, more than doubling the original target. 

• By 2025, the use of efficient stoves produced with support of the project had already resulted in a reduction of harmful climate emissions of 5.71 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. Over the full lifetime of the stoves, these reductions are expected to reach a total of 9.04 million tonnes.

• In Kenya and Senegal, strong progress in the cooking energy sector indicates that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets are on track: Kenya and Senegal are well positioned to exceed their national emissions reduction targets for the cooking energy sector by 2030.

• At the same time, 3,466 full-time jobs were created across the value chain for improved cookstoves.  

Made in Africa: Recipe for professionalisation 

A key driver of this success was the programme’s professionalisation approach, designed to strengthen the capacity and competitiveness of local and national enterprises producing and selling climate-friendly cookstoves.

Through performance-based, targeted support, 156 improved cookstove enterprises in Kenya and Senegal were able to increase productivity. Investments, training, and business coaching enabled them to transition from artisanal production to professional companies and scale and invest in their operations.

 

Access to finance played a particularly important role. The project facilitated 60 commercial credit agreements, which enabled enterprises to expand production and reach new customer segments.

As a result, the market share of professionalised enterprises now accounts for 95% of all sales in Kenya and 89% in Senegal. This demonstrates how targeted support can catalyse lasting market transformation and thus increase access rates to cleaner cooking solutions and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Unlocking access to finance: In Senegal, the project exceeded its targets for improving access to finance. By working with financial institutions, it demonstrated the business potential of the clean cooking sector. Banks and microfinance institutions were engaged through workshops and on-site visits, which improved their understanding of the sector. The project helped overcome initial reluctance within the financial sector to invest in small-scale clean energy enterprises. Subsequently, 35 companies producers managed to acquire commercial loans and credits from national financial institutions, enabling them to further improve their businesses.

Women in the cookstove value chain: The project was not only sector-transformative, but also gender-transformative. By empowering women as business owners, credit recipients and/or employees, and offering investment and capacity development tailored to the needs of women, the project enabled them to change their roles, develop ownership, independence and agency. Women formed the majority of training participants and accounted for over 66% of newly created full-time equivalent jobs. More than 65 women-led enterprises grew their production and sales, and 13 successfully accessed commercial finance.

Entrepreneur of the year in Kenya: Bruce Kimanthi Mukuru, scaled his cookstove business to a large-scale business with support from the project: His monthly production capacity increased from approximately 1,000 to over 5,000 climate-friendly cookstoves, while the size of his workforce grew from fewer than 10 employees to more than 40. In 2025, he was honoured by President Ruto as a National Hero of Kenya for his contribution to environmental conservation. His business growth illustrates how locally driven entrepreneurship can support climate mitigation efforts, reduce pressure on natural resources, and contribute to Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution commitments. Bruce Kimanthi Mukuru is one of 146 entrepreneurs supported under the project.

From results to replication 

The experience gained over the past five years offers valuable insights into how cooking energy markets can be expanded and how climate mitigation targets can be met simultaneously. 

Key elements of the approach, particularly the professionalisation model and the contribution to climate mitigation, are already being considered for replication in several African countries by other initiatives. The experiences from Kenya and Senegal are, for example, incorporated into EnDev’s programming for 2026 and beyond. 

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