The International Forum for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE East Africa) through its Coordinators (TaTEDO, SusWatch Kenya and Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development) organized a virtual meeting attended by more than 30 participants from East Africa and beyond. Guided by the topic:’ Electric Cooking as a Clean Cooking Option for East Africa: A ‘Silver Bullet’ to Reduce Dependence on Solid Fuels and Associated Indoor Air Pollution or is it Just ‘Chasing the Wind’?, the webinar sought to cross-examine Electric Cooking (eCook) as a viable clean cooking option for East Africa based on viewpoints from practitioners across the region and beyond.
Dr Jon Leary, MECS, Loughborough University- Overview of the Modern Energy Cooking Services MECS Programme in East Africa, while Mr. Estomih N. Sawe Tatedo, Centre for Sustainable Energy Service, shared the Tanzanian experience. Agnes Mwikali Kalyonge,Kisambara Ventures Ltd shared the Kenyan (behavioural change) experience in promoting the use of ecooking, while Gunnar B Olesen, INFORSE / INFORSE-Europe provided view points from a global perspective especially with regards to the importance of eCooking towards achieving the 100% Renewable Energy target.
Dr. Leary noted that eCooking is starting to enter urban East African markets, adding that ‘Many East Africans now have access to electricity but don’t use it for cooking. For example, O% Kenyans primarily cook with electricity, yet 73% are now connected’. He expressed optimism that emerging technologies & business models are likely to make eCooking accessible to many more people in East Africa. He concluded that eCooking is neither a ‘silver bullet’ for tackling biomass cooking in East Africa nor just ‘chasing the wind’. Mr Sawe (TaTEDO) highlighted Government efforts to promote clean cooking, barriers to scaling up clean cooking and policy recommendations for clean cooking in Tanzania especially for the smooth promotion of this innovation.
Agnes Mwikali noted that working in partnership with media (for example Citizen TV), Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) combined with use of social media to encourage the Kenyan public to polish their culinary skills on their favorite dishes, using the eCooking innovation.
Get more information about this Ecooking webinar presentations and discussion from here
No comments:
Post a Comment