Affording a clean stack: Evidence from cookstoves in urban Kenya

Abstract

The unaffordability of clean cookstoves and fuels, as defined by the World Health Organization, is one of the most significant reasons for the persistent use of unclean fuels, even when “stacked” alongside a clean stove. To see health benefits, the entire cooking stack must be clean, and therefore the clean stack needs to be affordable. Using a case study of clean biomass pellet stoves in Nairobi, Kenya, we present scenario analyses to measure and evaluate the affordability of adopting a clean stack under various cooking scenarios, income ranges and affordability measures. We find that almost all clean stack scenarios are above the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program's threshold, regardless of displaced baseline fuels. Further research should evaluate multiple measures of affordability to understand the full household budgetary context. Our results indicate a cooking fuel affordability crisis, which can undermine the achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals.