Carbon credits fuel Africa’s push for clean cooking 

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Every morning, Mary Kavutha prepares breakfast for her two young children using an induction cooker in her Nairobi home. 

Two years ago, the businesswoman relied on a charcoal stove that filled her kitchen with smoke and cost about USD 1.15 in fuel each day.

Today, she says, for 80 cents in electricity tokens she can cook several meals.”It cooks much faster, and is much safer because I have young children,” Kavutha said. “With charcoal there was always smoke in the house. Now I can cook indoors comfortably, and I spend much less.”

Nearly 1 billion Africans still rely on charcoal or firewood for everyday cooking. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that household air pollution from these fuels contributes to about 850,000 deaths annually on the continent.

Like millions of other Africans, Kavutha switched not out of climate concerns but because the stoves are affordable since they are underwritten by carbon credit financing, which allows clean cooking companies to raise capital against future revenues from emission reductions.

Clean cooking companies are betting that carbon finance, long criticized over concerns about the credibility of some projects, could become Africa’s most important tool for expanding cleaner household energy and reducing pressure on forests.

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