Sub-Saharan Africa Modern Electric Cooking Services Roundtable Workshop Report

On 14-15 May 2019, the Efficiency for Access Coalition hosted a “Modern Energy Cooking Services Roundtable” in Nairobi to discuss opportunities to advance markets for electric pressure-cooking in sub-Saharan Africa.

The technical roundtable took place on the second day of the Modern Energy Cooking Services programme launch. This setting provided an opportunity to engage a variety of industry leaders, including multilateral organisations, energy focused non-governmental organizations, government agencies, academia, and the private sector.

Coalition members recognize the latent demand for more and greater off- and weak- grid clean cooking solutions. The technical roundtable was an opportunity to address challenges and opportunities for electric pressure-cooking in sub-Saharan Africa.

Three billion people around the world depend on food cooked over polluting, open fires or inefficient stoves. Exposure to household air pollution from burning wood, charcoal, coal and kerosene is a leading risk factor for diseases. Furthermore, emissions from household cooking are a significant source of ambient air pollution and a major contributor to climate change[1].

Highly energy-efficient, affordable, and appropriately designed electric pressure cookers hold unique potential to improve environmental health and achieve broad development impacts in off- and weak-grid communities. Electric pressure-cooking provides a wide range of benefits, from reducing carbon emissions and personal exposure to harmful pollutants, to lowering the burden of disease associated with household air pollution.

Electric pressure cookers, however, are one of the most challenging off-grid appliances to design and develop to be both energy efficient, cost-effective, and high functioning to meet individual needs and cooking preferences. The global market remains in the early stages of development, leaving consumers and the environment exposed to harmful pollutants.

[1]
Clean Cooking Alliance. Air Pollution Factsheet. (2019). Retrieved from Clean Cooking Alliance website: https://bit.ly/2M0fp3O