Rural road in Kenya

    Kenya and Senegal: Cooperation in action Optimised stoves reduce carbon footprints

    In Kenya and Senegal many people cook their daily meals on open hearths, burning wood or other types of biomass. This generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions and contributes in some areas to deforestation. Moreover, the smoke causes health issues over the long term.

    A project financed jointly by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and partner governments is deploying improved stoves to reduce the carbon footprint of cooking and improve the living conditions of women in particular.

    About 15 per cent of energy demand worldwide is met by classic biomass such as firewood, charcoal and plant residues. Some 2.8 billion people cook their daily meals with such biomass. Kenya and Senegal are no exception: more than 80 per cent of Kenya’s population use biomass for cooking and heating. The corresponding figures in Senegal are 58 per cent of the urban population and 86 per cent of the rural population.

    Women producers of ceramic inserts based in the Kaolack region of Senegal.

    Women producers of ceramic inserts based in the Kaolack region of Senegal.

    The combustion of biomass during cooking releases greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes that using improved stoves instead of open hearths could save emissions equivalent to 0.6–2.4 gigatonnes CO₂ each year.

    In Kenya and Senegal, improved stoves could prevent about 25 megatonnes CO₂-equivalent emissions up to 2030. Direct savings amounting to a good 6 megatonnes CO₂-equivalent are envisaged over the term of the project. By optimising fuel use in stoves, emissions in both countries can be reduced readily and simply. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of both countries take this up.

    This is the starting point for the project promoting low-carbon cooking techniques in Kenya and Senegal that is funded jointly by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Kenyan government, and the Senegalese Oil and Energy Ministry and Environment and Sustainable Development Ministry.


    Boosting both supply and demand

    The project’s objective is to promote the market for efficient cooking technologies and facilitate their use in order to thereby reduce national biomass consumption and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Both demand for these technologies and supply-side capabilities are to be increased. Provision of training and machinery to producers enables them to boost their output. At the same time, significantly more people in rural areas are to take up the use of low-carbon stoves. To this end, the project informs potential users about the hazards associated with conventional open hearths and showcases the benefits of optimised stoves. The double-pronged approach shall ensure long-term growth of the local market for improved cooking technologies.

    Ousmane Thiam, an Improved Fireplace Craftsman based in the Dakar region of Senegal

    Ousmane Thiam, an improved fireplace craftsman based in the Dakar region of Senegal

    Overall, some eleven million people in almost two million predominantly rural households shall benefit directly from the project. Almost one third of these households is headed by women. Furthermore, the improved stoves reduce the probability of respiratory disease and the time spent to collect fuelwood and cook meals. As a result, users have more time to earn money. Children also benefit from the cleaner indoor air; they attend school more regularly. The dissemination of optimised stove technologies thus delivers various benefits in addition to climate change mitigation.

    With its contribution of 1.5 billion euros from the BMZ budget for the period from 2020 to 2023, Germany is among the main donors to the Green Climate Fund. Supplementary resources for projects financed jointly with the GCF and conducted by German implementing organisations (in this case 12.8 million euros as BMZ contribution) generate further impacts and synergies for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Germany’s partner countries. Moreover, combined financing makes a valuable contribution to donor coordination and the coherence of development cooperation.

    As at: 29/09/2023