LocationsBy Martin Namasaka
From Ballads to Burners: Sharon Wekesa and Kenya’s Drive for 100% Clean Cooking by 2028
May 23, 2025
If energy had a human form, it might look like Sharon Wekesa. She doesn’t just walk into a room—she fills it with purpose. There’s a melody to her presence: warm, grounded, and quietly electric, like the opening notes of her favorite Alicia Keys song, Falling. Long before she was championing clean cooking solutions at UNDP Kenya, Sharon was the lead singer in a local band—her voice rising in harmony, in hope, and now, in advocacy.
We meet in a modest Nairobi office, tea in hand. Sharon’s laughter is easy, her conviction unmistakable as she recalls childhood memories of smoky kitchens in Kiminini, Kitale—coughing fits, watery eyes, and a mother’s warning to stay away from the fire. “I didn’t understand it then,” she says, “but now I do. Those moments lit a fire in me.”
Today, that fire drives one of Kenya’s most passionate movements for clean cooking—a mission that blends policy with people, technology with justice, and energy with empathy. For Sharon, clean cooking isn’t just about stoves and fuels; it’s about dignity, health, and opportunity—especially for women and the most vulnerable. Her voice, once serenading crowds, now powers a national call to action: to ensure every Kenyan can cook safely, sustainably, and with pride.
So Sharon, let’s start from the top. How did you go from singing ballads to fighting for clean cooking solutions?
Haha! Oh wow, that’s quite the journey, isn’t it? So picture this—I’m about seven, peeking into our smoky kitchen in Kiminini. My mum and aunties are in there, eyes watering, coughing like they’ve just eaten a whole pepper. And every time I got close, they’d shoo me away like I was about to burn the ugali!
At the time, I just thought that’s how things were. But as I grew older and started learning about energy poverty, gender disparities, and health risks—something clicked. Those smoky kitchens weren’t just a childhood memory. They were a call to action.
Clean cooking isn’t just a “technical” fix. It’s a justice issue. It’s about health, dignity, opportunity—especially for women. Working with UNDP has given me a front-row seat to change, and honestly? It makes me want to sing.
Kenya wants 100% access to clean cooking by 2028. Sounds like a moonshot. Is it doable—and could it be a model for other African countries?
Yes, it’s ambitious. But ambition is exactly what this moment demands. Kenya’s approach isn’t just about distributing stoves—it’s about building systems that last. What makes it promising is how it combines innovation with deep community engagement. We’re investing in local entrepreneurs, aligning national policy with county-level energy plans, and tapping into the creativity and resilience of women and youth. That’s how lasting transformation takes root.
Clean cooking sits at the heart of Kenya’s broader climate and development agenda. Under its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC, Kenya has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 35%—roughly 72 million tonnes of CO₂e—by 2035. Clean cooking is central to this commitment. But it’s more than a climate solution: it touches public health, gender equality, economic opportunity, and dignity.
The cost of inaction is steep. Global supply shocks—like those triggered by the war in Ukraine—have made fuels like LPG less accessible, especially for urban poor communities. At the same time, millions remain exposed to harmful household air pollution, contributing to nearly half of the country’s disease burden from indoor air. Clean cooking could reduce that by more than half.
Initiatives like the Accelerating Clean Cooking Action for Kenya (ACCA), have demonstrated what works:
- Multi-stakeholder collaboration—between government, the private sector, and development partners—has been critical.
- Technology alone isn’t enough; it must be paired with awareness, behaviour change, and local ownership.
- County-level energy planning ensures that clean energy solutions are grounded in local contexts.
- Investing in youth and women-led enterprises makes the entire ecosystem more sustainable.
This isn’t just a national agenda—it’s a continental blueprint. With the right investment and political will, other African countries can adapt and scale these lessons. Kenya’s clean cooking compact, backed by strong policies like the Energy Act of 2019 and the Constitution’s devolved energy mandate, shows what’s possible when policy and people work together.
To get there, Kenya estimates it will need $56 billion for climate mitigation and adaptation, with a significant portion expected through international support and carbon markets. But the return is far greater: fewer emissions, healthier households, empowered communities, and a pathway to sustainable development.
Clean cooking is not just about energy access. It’s a health issue. A climate solution. A gender equity issue. A development imperative.
UNDP has backed some major clean energy projects—like setting up LPG facilities in schools and getting clean cookstoves into households. From where you sit, what stands out to you as the biggest impact of this work in Kenya so far?
What really stands out for me is how these efforts are improving everyday lives while helping us tackle climate change. Take the ACCA project, for instance—we’ve helped over 10,000 vulnerable households get access to clean cooking technologies. That alone is cutting down about 25,000 tons of CO₂ every year, which is huge progress on the climate front.
But for me, it’s not just about the numbers—it’s about the people. I think of school kitchens that have switched to LPG, where staff no longer have to breathe in harmful smoke all day. That’s real, tangible change. And we’re not stopping at individual households. We’ve also helped three counties develop energy plans, which lays the groundwork for long-term, inclusive access to clean energy. That kind of systems change is where we start to see real transformation.
The most rewarding moment that really stayed with me was visiting a school we helped transition to LPG. I walked into their kitchen—no black soot, no choking smoke. The cooks were smiling (and still had their voices intact!), and one of them said, “I can finally breathe while I work.” That hit me hard.
How has UNDP’s work on clean cooking—especially under the ACCA project—helped uplift women, youth, and vulnerable households, both socially and economically?
The ACCA project was designed to be inclusive right from the start. We trained over 550 women and youth in different parts of the clean cooking value chain—not just training them, but also linking them directly to real business opportunities. And the impact? More than a third of those trained are now actively running clean cooking businesses. That’s what economic empowerment looks like. On the social side, it’s also been powerful—women and girls are spending less time collecting firewood, which frees up hours in their day for education, starting small businesses, or just taking care of their families. For vulnerable households, cleaner cookstoves are also improving health outcomes and cutting down fuel costs. It’s the kind of broad, multidimensional impact we were aiming for from the beginning.
The ACCA project—supported by Japan—is clearly doing a lot: clean cookstove distribution, training, policy support. Can you walk us through how it's addressing both environmental and development challenges in Kenya?
Absolutely. The ACCA project is targeting both the climate and the development side of the equation, especially in areas hit hard by drought like the ASALs, and in peri-urban communities. We're distributing clean cookstoves to households and helping five public institutions move away from inefficient biomass stoves. On top of that, we’ve trained women and youth so they can build livelihoods in clean cooking businesses. And just as importantly, we're supporting three county governments to improve their energy policies. All in, we aim to directly benefit around 100,000 people and indirectly reach about 2 million men, women, and youth.
This work aligns closely with Kenya’s goal of achieving 100% clean cooking by 2028. But we can’t ignore the funding hurdles—tight public finances, rising debt, and economic uncertainties all make it challenging. Japan’s support—about $1.3 million—has been critical. Going forward, we’ll need more private sector involvement and innovative funding approaches, like crowdfunding, to fill the gap. There are some great government-led efforts too—like the Gas Yetu project and the Kenya Off-grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP)—which are helping to subsidize gas and promote improved cookstoves. But to truly get to 100% clean cooking, we’ll need all hands on deck—government, private sector, donors, and communities.
With only five years left to achieve the SDG 7 goal of universal access to clean and affordable energy, what needs to happen—on the policy, financial, and technical fronts—to speed things up in Kenya and beyond?
We need bold and coordinated action now. On the policy side, we’ve got to enforce clean cooking targets more effectively and create strong incentives for the private sector—like keeping LPG zero-rated and backing other fuel options like bioethanol. Financially, it’s about scaling up blended finance models and getting more concessional funding into the mix, especially for underserved areas where the risk is higher. Technically, we must invest in infrastructure and innovation—things like last-mile delivery networks—and make sure the people using these technologies have the knowledge and support to keep them going. It’s not just about putting in systems, it’s about sustaining them. For me, achieving SDG 7 isn’t just a development goal—it’s a moral obligation. Everyone deserves access to clean, modern energy.
We’ve seen how global crises—like the war in Ukraine—can shake up the energy landscape, especially when it comes to things like LPG prices. How can countries like Kenya build more resilient clean energy systems that can hold up under pressure while still moving toward SDG 7?
That’s such an important question. The key is not to put all our eggs in one basket. LPG is important, but we can’t afford to rely on it alone—especially when external shocks can cause prices to spike or supplies to falter. We need to explore more local options, like bioethanol, briquettes, and even electric cooking where it makes sense.
Building resilience also means encouraging local innovation and manufacturing in clean cooking tech, so we’re not always dependent on imports. Stronger policies and smart regulation can help a lot here. And then there’s regional cooperation—by working with neighbouring countries and building strategic reserves, we can weather future storms better. In the end, it’s about building systems that can adapt and keep going, even when the world throws us curveballs.
Sharon leans back in her chair, her tea now cold, but her energy anything but. "You know," she says softly, "when I sang on stage, I loved those moments when the crowd would join in—when one voice became many. That’s what this clean cooking movement needs. It can’t just be UNDP, or the government, or even the women carrying firewood on their backs. It has to be all of us."
She pauses, then grins. "So here’s my encore: Imagine a Kenya where no child grows up thinking smoke is part of a meal. Where kitchens are safe, forests thrive, and women have hours back to chase their dreams. That’s the future we’re singing into existence—one stove, one policy, one heart at a time."
The interview ends, but Sharon’s conviction lingers like the last note of a powerful song. Somewhere in Kiminini, a little girl peeks into her kitchen—and for the first time, breathes easy.
That’s the future Sharon Wekesa won’t stop fighting for. And if you listen closely, you can almost hear it: the sound of change, harmonizing with hope.
