By SHABAN MAKOKHA
March 12, 2026| The smoke curls upward at dawn, slipping through cracked kitchen walls and tin roofs, carrying with it the promise of a meal and the threat of a shortened life.
In millions of Kenyan homes, the day begins the same way. A woman bends over a three-stone fire, feeding twigs into the flames while a sufuria balances precariously above. Her child sits nearby, coughing softly, inhaling the invisible poison that will shape their future.
This is the daily ritual of cooking in Kenya—a practice so ordinary, so culturally ingrained, that its devastating consequences have been hiding in plain sight for generations.
But beneath this veneer of normalcy lies a public health emergency of staggering proportions. The simple act of preparing a family meal is killing Kenyans slowly, destroying the country’s forests, and undermining its climate commitments.
The Invisible Epidemic
According to the World Health Organisation, household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and inefficient stoves causes approximately 2.9 million premature deaths globally every year. The victims are disproportionately women and children—those who spend the most time near cooking areas, inhaling fine particles that penetrate deep into their lungs.
In Kenya, the numbers are stark. The International Energy Agency estimates that nearly four out of five people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to clean cooking solutions. For millions of Kenyan households—both rural and urban—firewood and charcoal remain the only affordable options.
What looks like a normal daily routine masks a dangerous reality. The smoke that fills kitchens contains fine particulate matter that causes respiratory infections, eye problems, heart complications, and lung disease. Children doing homework in smoky kitchens cough through their studies. Infants strapped to their mothers’ backs breathe polluted air before they can even crawl.
The connection between cooking fuel and poor health remains largely unrecognized, normalized by generations of smoke-filled living.
The Vanishing Forests
The crisis extends far beyond human health. Traditional cooking fuels are driving rapid deforestation and forest degradation across Kenya. As communities rely on woodlands for firewood, forests thin out, water sources shrink, and wildlife habitats are disturbed.
In Kakamega County, home to Kenya’s last remaining tropical rainforest, the situation is particularly acute. According to a report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 90 percent of people in the area depend on local forest resources for their cooking needs. The result: a 50 percent decrease in the size of the iconic Kakamega Forest.
“Cutting trees faster than they can regenerate fuels a cycle of land degradation,” explains environmental experts involved in the region’s clean cooking initiatives. “This increases vulnerability to climate-related disasters while paradoxically harming the very communities who depend on those forests for survival.”
The production of charcoal, largely unregulated, contributes to massive carbon emissions and shrinking forests. As woodlands disappear, water sources dry up, and wildlife habitats fragment, the national push towards climate resilience slows dramatically.
The Hidden Economic Burden
For families struggling to make ends meet, the financial cost of traditional cooking is often underestimated—until it consumes their already strained budgets.
Charcoal prices have surged in recent years, disproportionately affecting low-income households. In urban informal settlements, the rising cost forces many families into unsafe alternatives, such as using kerosene stoves indoors, which present fire hazards and additional health risks.
But the economic burden extends beyond direct fuel costs. Women spend hours each day searching for firewood—time that could be used for education, small businesses, or other income-generating activities. This lost productivity represents a significant drain on household economies and national development.
“The hours spent searching for firewood represent lost opportunities,” notes a recent study on cooking transitions. “Time that could otherwise support school attendance or household income-generating activities is consumed by the basic task of finding fuel.”
A Quiet Revolution in Western Kenya
Yet, amidst this crisis, a quiet revolution is underway. In Kakamega County, a bold new initiative aims to break the cycle of smoke, sickness, and deforestation that has trapped communities for generations.
The Accelerating County Cooking Transitions (A2CT) project, launched in Kakamega, Meru, and Taita Taveta counties, represents a comprehensive approach to one of Kenya’s most intractable challenges. Implemented between July 2025 and December 2026, the project brings together the Ministry of Energy, SNV as lead implementer, the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya (CCAK), and Gamos East Africa, with support from UK PACT through the British High Commission.
The initiative’s goals are ambitious: equip counties with inclusive policies and data systems for clean cooking transition planning; support the progressive transition of at least 50 percent of trained households and public institutions from biomass to modern cooking solutions; and strengthen enterprise development and financial inclusion for at least 200 individuals involved in clean cooking businesses.
According to baseline findings released on March 10, 2026, the challenge in Kakamega is steep. Firewood meets 57 percent of total cooking energy needs, while charcoal accounts for 34 percent. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)—the clean alternative that dominates in wealthier nations—represents only 9 percent of cooking energy.
Perhaps most striking, the findings reveal that firewood remains dominant across all income levels, suggesting that income growth alone does not drive clean cooking transitions. Cultural preferences and awareness gaps play equally powerful roles.
The Governor’s Pledge
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa acknowledges the scale of the challenge. While national clean cooking adoption stands at 24 percent, his county currently languishes at just 9 percent—a reflection of its predominantly rural population and deep-rooted cooking traditions.
But change is coming. Speaking through his County Executive Committee Member for Roads, Energy and Public works, Architect Patrick Kundu, during a multi-sectoral meeting on the A2CT project, Barasa announced that the county has secured Sh3 billion to support rural electrification—a crucial step toward enabling clean cooking transitions.
“The initiative aims to fast-track the adoption of clean and modern cooking solutions while strengthening county governance, enterprise development, and inclusive participation across the clean cooking value chain,” Barasa said.
He noted that the County Integrated Development Plan prioritizes a shift to clean energy across multiple sectors, including cooking, lighting, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, waste management, and urban infrastructure.
The governor expressed optimism that upcoming policies will reflect local environmental realities and create investment opportunities, helping the county align with national targets that aim to reduce wood-stove use to 3 percent, charcoal to 2 percent, while increasing LPG adoption to 50 percent and bioethanol use to 30 percent.
Beyond Technology: Dignity and Opportunity
For Rebecca Hallam, Country Director for SNV in Kenya and Burundi, the clean cooking agenda transcends energy policy. It is fundamentally about people.
“At the center of today’s launch are the people of Kakamega—households seeking healthier cooking solutions, entrepreneurs building clean energy businesses, and communities working towards more resilient livelihoods,” Hallam said during the project launch.
She emphasized that clean cooking solutions like LPG, improved biomass stoves, ethanol, biogas, and electric pressure cookers offer far more than cleaner air. “They offer dignity, time, opportunity, and safety,” she explained. “These technologies drastically reduce household air pollution, saving lives and reducing illnesses. They also save time, free up household income, and protect forests.”
Hallam stressed that the A2CT project is designed to build capacity of county institutions, support inclusive policy frameworks, and strengthen opportunities for women, youth, and small enterprises to participate in the clean cooking economy.
“To the women, youth, and persons with disabilities who are here, you are not simply beneficiaries of this work,” she told attendees. “You are central to the transformation of the clean cooking sector and to building inclusive energy markets that work for everyone.”
The Road Ahead
When families adopt clean cooking solutions, the benefits cascade through every aspect of life. Women gain back valuable hours each week. Children breathe cleaner air and face fewer health risks. Households spend less on fuel over time. And the country moves closer to achieving its climate and development goals.
Community-based groups and private innovators continue to develop affordable, accessible options tailored to local needs. In Kakamega, the A2CT project will strengthen skills, financial literacy, and job opportunities within the clean cooking value chain, helping to create green jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
Yet significant challenges remain. Many households cannot afford the upfront cost of clean cooking devices. Awareness gaps persist, with some families unaware of the health and economic benefits of switching. Rural areas often lack consistent access to clean fuel supplies. And cultural preferences for traditional cooking methods, especially for certain foods, continue to influence adoption rates.
A Golden Thread
As former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once observed: “Energy is the golden thread that connects economic growth, increased social equity, and an environment that allows the world to thrive.”
For Kenyan families, that golden thread begins in the kitchen. The journey to smoke-free homes is not merely an environmental goal or a health intervention—it is a story about dignity, equity, and the promise of a better life for every Kenyan family.
In Kakamega, that journey has begun. The smoke still rises each morning from countless kitchens, carrying with it the weight of tradition and the cost of inaction. But across the county, in policy meetings and community gatherings, in enterprise training sessions and household demonstrations, a different future is taking shape.
It is a future where children study without coughing, where forests regenerate, where women reclaim hours of their day, and where the simple act of cooking a family meal no longer carries the risk of an early grave.
The question is whether Kenya can accelerate this transition before the smoke claims another generation.