Kenya Market Assessment: Sector Mapping, 2012.
GVEP International
The availability of Improved Cookstoves is much higher than in the rest of East Africa, with production on a commercial basis. However, much stove production is done through informal artisans and there is a lack of quality standards.
• Many cookstove initiatives have taken place in the country but often lacked a commercial focus and have not been sustained.
• The market for stoves is primarily in urban and peri-urban areas and is growing as urbanisation gathers pace.
• Access to modern fuels, such as kerosene and LPG, is relatively high in urban areas. Initiatives to switch users to cleaner technologies such as LPG by reducing upfront costs and purchasing quantity are been tested in the market.
• The cookstove value chain is highly fragmented. Production of components is often done separately and many middlemen exist to transport and retail stoves countrywide.
• Most production is done by small and medium scale enterprises. They often lack working capital to purchase materials in bulk & ensure continuous production, as well as capital to expand their markets.
• In rural areas the market is much weaker though GIZ appear to have been able to develop a commercially sustainable model working with local artisans.
• CO2Balance offers an alternative model which appears to achieve high levels of penetration in the communities it targets, though stoves are often given away for free.
• A number of policy studies have been undertaken in recent years and a strong network of stakeholders exists.
• Carbon finance plays an important role in reducing the cost of quality stoves to the customer and is likely to continue as the main source of subsidy.
