Cooking Up Change: A Journey to Smoke-Free Kitchens in Ethiopia

Tsegaye Nega, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, Carleton College

The lack of clean cooking practices in sub-Saharan Africa is a major setback for the global community, causing an annual loss of $750 billion in terms of health, environmental, and climate-related impacts. Although the sector requires an annual investment of $4.5 billion, it only receives a meager 4% of that amount. Consequently, the number of people without access to clean cooking has increased to almost one billion, up from 850 million in 2020. Ethiopia is one of the worst-affected countries, with only 8% of its population having access to such amenities. However, the country has the third-largest potential impact (after China and India) for reducing global surface temperatures by 2050 if it transitions to clean cooking. This seminar will showcase the efforts of an Ethiopian grassroots startup, Anega Energies, that is contributing to this transition via a circular economy approach. The initiative involves the design and manufacture of highly efficient cookstoves, which run on fuel pellets derived from waste biomass. Additionally, the biochar resulting from this process is upcycled into water and air filters and fertilizer.