Ten years after Paris, household biomass remains a critical challenge in Uganda and East Africa

 

Photo: Dialogue Earth

Ten years after the Paris Agreement, household energy in East Africa is undergoing a slow but crucial transformation. While progress has been made in expanding electricity access, the region still relies heavily on biomass—wood, charcoal, and crop waste—for cooking. In Uganda and across the region, this dependence is not just an environmental concern—it’s a pressing health, gender, human rights, and economic issue.

Biomass Dependency and the Burden on Women and Children

More than 95% of Ugandan households still rely on wood or charcoal for cooking (International Energy Agency [IEA], 2023). Overall, in Sub-Saharan Africa, over 80% of the population uses biomass as their primary cooking fuel (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2023).

This reliance has profound gender implications. In most households, women and girls bear the burden of firewood collection—walking long distances, often in unsafe areas, for up to 10 hours each week (Green Grants Fund, 2012). This reduces time for education and income-generating work and increases the risk of gender-based violence.

Exposure to smoke from open fires and inefficient stoves contributes to nearly 4 million premature deaths globally each year, with women and children disproportionately affected (WHO, 2023). Children under five are particularly vulnerable to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases, while pregnant women face increased risks of low birth weight and maternal complications (UNFCCC, 2023a).

The Institutional and Commercial Firewood Demand

The burden of biomass is not limited to households. In Uganda, schools, health facilities, and commercial enterprises such as restaurants, brick kilns, and agro-processors consume large volumes of firewood daily (IEA, 2023). This institutional demand places significant pressure on forests and drives up the price of firewood, making it increasingly unaffordable for poor rural households (HeartFeldt Foundation, 2024).

A survey by EcoStove Uganda found that firewood prices in some districts increased by over 40% between 2020 and 2024, partly due to bulk purchases by schools and hospitals (EcoStove Uganda, 2024). As firewood becomes a commercial commodity, low-income families are forced to travel further for collection, switch to more polluting alternatives, or reduce their food intake. This affects nutrition levels for children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

Uganda’s Response: Clean Cooking Solutions and Gender Equity

Uganda is responding to this crisis with innovative programs focused on clean cooking:

• EcoStove Uganda has trained women entrepreneurs to distribute efficient stoves, helping households reduce wood use by up to 60% and saving over $800 annually on fuel (EcoStove Uganda, 2024).
• The Cookstove Project has installed over 28,000 improved stoves in rural Uganda, cutting smoke exposure and respiratory illness (Cookstove Project, 2024).
• The Uganda Biogas and Electric Cooking Project (UBEP), supported by the African Development Bank, will provide 77,000 electric cookers and install 47 institutional biogas systems in schools and health centres (AfDB, 2024).
• The Teso Women Briquettes Project trains women to make carbon-neutral briquettes from agricultural waste, reducing firewood dependence and offering new sources of income (UNFCCC, 2023b).

These programs not only reduce household air pollution but also lessen the firewood demand from institutions and commercial entities, easing market pressures and forest degradation.

Barriers and What’s Needed

Despite these successes, several barriers remain: cultural resistance, lack of affordability, and infrastructure challenges like poor electric grid access. The practice of “fuel stacking”, where families use both modern and traditional fuels, continues due to reliability concerns (WHO, 2023).

At current rates, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to account for the largest portion of the 1.8 billion people still without clean cooking solutions (International Renewable Energy Agency [IRENA], 2025), underscoring the urgent need for more targeted interventions in the region. But IEA and AfDB estimate that $4–8 billion annually is needed across Africa to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030 (IEA, 2023; AfDB, 2024). Without institutional adoption—especially in schools and commercial kitchens—household access alone will not be enough to control prices or emissions. 

Conclusion

Ten years after Paris, household biomass remains a critical challenge in Uganda and East Africa. It endangers health, fuels gender inequality, and accelerates deforestation. Importantly, the institutional and commercial consumption of firewood is now driving prices beyond what rural households can afford, making clean energy adoption both a social and economic imperative.

Programs in Uganda demonstrate what’s possible when clean cooking is linked with gender empowerment, institutional reform, and market transformation. But without stronger investment and systemic change, biomass will continue to limit the potential of women, children, and communities across the region.

References

• African Development Bank. (2024). Boosting clean cooking in Uganda. https://adf.afdb.org
• Cookstove Project. (2024). Uganda Clean Cooking Initiative. https://cookstoveproject.org/uganda
• EcoStove Uganda. (2024). EcoStove Impact. https://ecostoves.org/ecostove-impact
• Green Grants Fund. (2012). Ugandan women tackle climate change. https://www.greengrants.org
• HeartFeldt Foundation. (2024). Clean Cooking Uganda. https://heartfeldt.org/clean-cooking-uganda
• International Energy Agency. (2022). Africa Energy Outlook. https://www.iea.org
• International Energy Agency. (2023). Uganda 2023 country report. https://prod.iea.org
• International Renewable Energy Agency (2025). Tracking SDG7 I Progress towards Sustainable Energy. Chapter 2: Access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking: chapter2_access_to_clean_fuels_and_technologies_for_cooking.pdf
• Monitor Uganda. (2024). Reliance on firewood is hurting women. https://www.monitor.co.ug
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2023a). Women tackling rural poverty through energy efficiency. https://unfccc.int
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2023b). Teso Women Charcoal Briquettes Project. https://unfccc.int
• World Health Organisation. (2023). Clean Household Energy Report. https://www.who.int