Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s aspirations for a clean cooking energy transition are gaining more thrust as stakeholders work towards overcoming both policy and market challenges facing the cooking energy sector in the East African nation.
The CookFund Programme, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), is one such initiative that stakeholders believe will contribute to positive changes in the field.
The EU, under the “Integrated Approach to Sustainable Cooking Solution Initiative,” has already invested about 19.4 million Euros in this programme, which aims to provide clean and green energy cooking solutions in Tanzania.
Speaking at the Women’s Clean Cooking Conference 2024 held in Dodoma on March 9, 2024, EU Ambassador to Tanzania Christine Grau pointed out that covering a broad area of elements in the approach is essential as the delegation wants to move things forward.
“We’re helping to develop new technologies and helping to develop the new regulatory framework policy for the government,” said Ms Grau.
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Tanzania’s government aims to increase the use of clean cooking energy sources such as Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Biogas, and electricity from less than ten per cent currently to 80 per cent by 2033.
This ambition arises as the current primary source of cooking energy has been biomass, with about 60 per cent of the population using firewood and 26 per cent using charcoal, which experts agree has significant effects on people’s health and the climate.
To achieve the clean energy transition goal, the government has been making self-efforts and inviting stakeholders to join the effort on clean energy transition.
At the conference in Dodoma, Vice President Philipo Mpango called upon the private sector to join the government’s effort to provide rural and urban populations access to clean energy.
“I ask the private sector to support the campaign to eliminate the use of dirty cooking energy,” said Mpango. “Some areas where the private sector can help include investing in research, innovation, and the production of energy and affordable cooking solutions.”
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To overcome market barriers to the clean energy transition, The CookFund Programme employs methods such as providing incentives to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to increase end-user affordability, addressing business undercapitalisation, and conducting awareness campaigns on using clean sources of cooking energy.
These methods are expected to help increase energy transition, as witnessed on the ground. Some food vendors in Mbeya told The Chanzo that they use biomass, mainly charcoal, over LPG due to costs.
“It’s not that we don’t like it; we like it, but they should reduce the cost of gas,” Tumaini Ligonja, a 35-year-old food vendor at Block T Street, told The Chanzo.
“It costs Sh50,000 to buy a bag of charcoal, while a gas cylinder of 13 kg is Sh70,000,” said Tumaini, adding that a bag of charcoal will last longer than a gas cylinder of 13 kg.
Speaking with The Chanzo on the sidelines of the Dodoma conference recently, CookFund Programme Manager Immanuel Muro said that a lack of capital among SMEs is one obstacle to end-user availability and affordability of clean cooking energy sources.
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“Many businesspeople working to supply and sell cooking energy do not have capital,” said Muro. “They have not been able to reach various remote areas.”
He hopes that the programme, currently implemented in five regions of Tanzania Mainland, will help SMEs working on clean cooking fuels reach many people with affordable prices for various clean cooking fuels. He says, “Our businesspeople will now begin to reach more people.”
Janeth Mtweve, a 43-year-old businesswoman with Honey G Investment Limited in Arusha, benefited from the CookFund Programme with about Sh381 million that enabled them to produce about two hundred clean stoves supplied to educational institutions, including the largest university in the country, the University of Dodoma.
“We are very grateful that this [CookFund] project has benefited us very well,” said Janeth. Thanks to the project, our customers are enjoying all our services.”
Apart from overcoming market barriers, the CookFund Project also assists the government in strengthening the legal and regulatory framework that will foster a sustainable market for clean cooking energy.
Additional reporting by Jackline Kuwanda and Modesta Mwambene.
One Response
Nahitaji kuwa wakala mkubwa sana kwa ajili ya kusambaza na kuwaelisha watu zaidi juu ya matumizi ya nishatinya gas kwa kilNmoja wetu
Nina amini ninawwza sana hasa ktk jamii yangu hap Dodoma