This report, “Making the Switch: The Deployment Handbook for Institutional E-Cookers,” conducted by Efficiency for Access in partnership with the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme, aims to inform practitioners seeking advice on the design, deployment, and operation of commercially available institutional e-cooking technologies and provide actionable recommendations for scaling e-cooking in institutions in Kenya. This guide covers commercially available institutional e-cooking technologies designed for both on- and off-grid applications. It provides:

• An overview of the current state of e-cooking in institutions in Kenya
• Step-by-step advice for the pre-assessment, planning, installation, and commissioning of e-cooking solutions
• Opportunities to scale the adoption of institutional e-cooking

Download “Making the Switch: The Deployment Handbook for Institutional E-Cookers” to access key findings, recommendations, and guidance on electric cookers in institutional settings.

About Efficiency for Access

Efficiency for Access is a global coalition dedicated to advancing access to energy and affordable, energy-efficient appliances in underserved communities. It is a catalyst for change, accelerating access to off- and weak-grid appliances that boost incomes, avoid carbon emissions, improve quality of life, and support sustainable development. The coalition is co-chaired by UK aid from the UK government via the Transforming Energy Access platform and the IKEA Foundation.

About the MECS programme

Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) is an eleven-year research programme funded by UK Aid (FCDO). MECS is a geographically diverse, multicultural, and transdisciplinary team working in close partnership with NGOs, governments, the private sector, academia, research institutes, policy representatives, and communities in 16 countries of interest to accelerate a transition from biomass to genuinely ‘clean’ cooking.

In seeking to spark a new approach to clean cooking, the MECS programme researches the socio-economic realities of a transition from polluting fuels to a range of modern fuels. Whilst the research covers several clean fuels, the evidence is pointing to the viability, cost-effectiveness, and user satisfaction that energy-efficient electric cooking devices provide. Significant progress has been made in access to electricity in the last decade, but these gains are sometimes disconnected from the enduring problem of clean cooking. By integrating modern energy cooking services into the planning for electricity access, quality, reliability and sustainability, MECS hopes to leverage investment in renewable energies (both grid and off-grid) to address the clean cooking challenge.

CLASP participated in the fourth Modern Energy Cooking Forum (MECF 2025) in New Delhi on 26 September. The event brought together diverse stakeholders to work towards integrating electric cooking (e-cooking) into India’s energy and climate policies.

Globally, more than 2 billion people still rely on polluting fuels like wood, charcoal, kerosene, or coal as their main cooking fuel¹. In India, about 54% of households use traditional solid fuels, either as their main source of energy or alongside liquefied petroleum gas, contributing significantly to indoor air pollution². Dependence on solid fuels negatively impacts people’s quality of life. It harms people’s health through exposure to smoke and pollutants, and it also limits productivity and keeps households trapped in a never-ending cycle of labor-intensive chores.

Improving household access to e-cooking helps address these challenges while advancing energy and climate goals. Shifting to cleaner, more efficient electric cooking can help reduce respiratory illness symptoms and other health impacts, save households time and money, while freeing up hours spent on fuel collection and cooking. From a climate perspective, the widespread adoption of e-cooking can reduce emissions from the residential energy sector and contribute to India’s decarbonization goals.

At MECF 2025, Neha Dhingra, CLASP’s Director, India, shared CLASP’s approach for accelerating India’s clean cooking transition. The approach focuses on market-shaping activities:

• Policy and institutional collaborations: CLASP has a longstanding relationship with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and will continue working with government stakeholders to align policies, standards, and procurement with clean cooking solutions. These collaborations are critical to ensuring that solutions are available and supported by national policies.
• Evidence and risk reduction: By providing robust appliance performance data and consumer insights, CLASP helps policymakers, financiers, and companies make informed investments in e-cooking.
• Consumer awareness and demand: CLASP will continue supporting campaigns that highlight the tangible benefits of e-cooking, from household savings to improved air quality and safer kitchens.

With this approach, CLASP aims to ensure that clean cooking appliances are available, but also affordable, trusted, and widely adopted. Through our partnership with MECS and in collaboration with local partners like Finovista, CLASP will provide venture-building support to Indian manufacturers, help identify high-growth opportunities, refine business models, and develop strategic connections with funders and partners.

CLASP’s Sumedha Awasthy (Senior Associate, Clean Energy Access) and Jatin Mathur (Associate, Clean Energy Access) also contributed to a special session on research and innovation in e-cooking, demonstrating how policy, finance, and market-building can speed up the shift. Their presentation highlighted initiatives such as the Global Leap Awards and the Institutional E-Cooking Demo.

CLASP team members joined the Kenya Clean Cooking Week in Kilifi County last week. The team showcased hands-on cooking demonstrations, competitions, and panel discussions, highlighting the role that policy support, financing, partnerships, and grassroots adoption plays in accelerating progress.

Over the past decade, Kenya has made remarkable progress in clean cooking. The share of Kenyans using clean cooking solutions has more than doubled, rising from 15% to 31%, making it the fastest growth rate of clean cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa⁴. This momentum has been supported by broader advances in electrification. Electricity access in Kenya grew from 37% in 2013 to 79% in 2023⁵, creating a strong foundation for the wider adoption of clean cooking.

Despite this, around 68.5% of the population still relies on firewood, charcoal, or kerosene; with firewood remaining the main cooking fuel⁶. These fuels come at a high cost. They degrade forests, pollute the air, and are linked to serious health problems ranging from heart disease and strokes to cancer⁷.

Electric cooking (e-cooking) appliances like induction cooktops and electric pressure cookers offer a safer, cleaner alternative. They eliminate smoke, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help curb deforestation by replacing wood and charcoal. They also make kitchens safer by minimizing risks of burns, fires, and explosions, improving the lives of whole communities.

Along with our international and local partners, Ecobora, Gamos East Africa, and MECS, CLASP hosted a cooking competition at our exhibition booth. Contestants prepared dishes of their choice on induction cooktops, using locally available ingredients.

After the cook-off, participants noted things like:

• “The appliances were surprisingly easy to use.”
• “No smoke was produced compared to firewood.”
• “The cooktop felt safe to use and minimized risks like burns.”

The competition showed that clean cooking is not just a climate or health solution, it’s a practical, safe, and efficient choice that improves people’s lives.

With representatives from the Clean Cooking Delivery Unit, GIZ, Kilifi County Government, the Office of the First Lady of Kenya, Practical Action, and UK PACT, CLASP’s Nyamolo Abagi (Director, Clean Energy Access) joined a panel on the importance of partnerships in delivering transformational change across the clean cooking sector. She emphasized that partnerships must extend beyond the usual stakeholders and include the people who use these technologies every day.

In a panel on equity and inclusion, including representatives from Kilifi County Government, Mwangaza Light, Practical Action, SOLCO Partnership, SNV, and WWF, CLASP’s Mike Ofuya (Associate, Clean Energy Access) highlighted the hidden costs of cooking with firewood and charcoal in schools. He noted that shifting to e-cooking appliances can significantly improve health outcomes while freeing up financial and human resources currently consumed by firewood use. These savings could instead fund better food, educational supplies, and infrastructure, while strengthening learning outcomes across the country.

The Government of Kenya aims to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2028. CLASP is working alongside partners like Ecobora, MECS, and Jikoni Magic to accelerate this goal, by promoting the adoption of affordable, energy-efficient cooking appliances and raising awareness of their benefits.

Clean Cooking Week 2025 sent a clear message. The time for strategizing has passed, it’s time for action that delivers healthier homes, stronger economies, and a safer environment.

More information at www.clasp.ngo/appliances/electric-cooking-appliances.

About the event:

Kenya’s Clean Cooking Week is organized by the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, and the 2025 edition ran from 26 to 28 August. This year’s theme, “Implementing Clean Cooking Strategies and County Energy Plans: Transformation, Inclusivity and Empowerment”, focused on turning strategies into action.

The event gathered diverse stakeholders, including government representatives, industry, civil society, development partners, and academia, all united by the goal of achieving universal access to clean cooking.

A shift is underway in how people power their homes across Europe, driven by climate targets and energy security concerns. Much of the momentum has focused on heating and cooling, with fossil fuel boilers being replaced by electric heat pumps and other low-carbon systems. But many kitchens are being left behind.

For over 15 million households in the United Kingdom (UK), cooking with gas is still the norm. This comes with hidden risks, including indoor air pollution from substances like nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide, and benzene. These pollutants carry significant health impacts: NO₂ has been linked to asthma, lung disease, and other serious health conditions, and benzene is a known carcinogen. Beyond the health risks, even when not in use, gas stoves can also leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

A recent pilot project led by Global Action Plan, in partnership with CLASP, shows how switching to electric cooking can significantly improve people’s quality of life, while helping the UK meet its climate goals.

In early 2025, Global Action Plan and CLASP partnered with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Southway Housing, Beko, B&Q, and Electrolux to launch a social housing retrofit pilot. The goal: Remove gas cookers from ten Manchester homes and replace them with electric ovens and induction cooktops.

Each of the participating households had already completed a heating retrofit, making cooking the final milestone in the journey to full household decarbonization, which would allow them to disconnect from the gas network and remove the standing charge from their energy bills. Residents were surveyed and interviewed before and after the switch, providing valuable insights into the process of transitioning, as well as the benefits of electric cooking.

The results were striking:

• All participating households preferred their new induction cooktops to their old gas ones.
• Eighty-five percent found the transition easy or very easy.
• Awareness of the impact of gas cooking on indoor air quality jumped from 40% to 100%.

For some, the retrofit was life-changing. Farrah, a resident with asthma, said she needed her inhaler while cooking on gas. With her new induction cooktop, she can now breathe easier in her kitchen. Others, like June, initially hesitated to give up gas. But once she adapted to the touchscreen controls, she found induction easier to use and kinder on her arthritis. Stacie, a mother of two, felt safer without gas in the home. The residents’ experiences point to a clear conclusion: electric cooking is easy to adopt, comes with tangible benefits, and is favored by the people who have made the switch.

The pilot project didn’t just highlight the real-world benefits of electric cooking—it also showed how widespread adoption is possible with the right support and created a model for scaling it across the UK. Based on the project’s insights, Global Action Plan and CLASP developed a checklist for local authorities to help plan and deliver cooking retrofits. From resident engagement to appliance provider selection, the guide provides a practical roadmap for replicating the Manchester pilot’s success of the Manchester pilot.

To support a national shift toward electric cooking in the UK, Global Action Plan and CLASP also released a report that provides policy pathways. The report was presented earlier this year during an event held in the UK Parliament, attended by members of Parliament, local policymakers, industry representatives, academics, local government officials, and public health professionals. The document outlines the steps needed to overcome barriers, like low public awareness and the exclusion of cooking appliances in current home retrofit schemes.