Africa-Press – Kenya. Nine in 10 people in Kenya are using clean fuels and technologies for lighting. The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey shows that the most common source of clean fuels and technologies are electricity (50 per cent) and solar lanterns (34 per cent).
The report, which was released on Monday, shows that most (77 per cent) households do not heat their homes. Sixteen per cent of those who heat their homes use manufactured cook stoves, and only 1 per cent use clean fuels and technologies for heating.
“Half of the households in Kenya cook indoors, with 30 per cent having no separate room or kitchen for cooking,” the report says.
“Most rural households (63 per cent) have a separate building for cooking, compared to 8 per cent in urban areas.” Twenty-four per cent of the population nationally uses clean fuels and technology for cooking.
A higher percentage of the population in urban areas (59 per cent) uses clean fuels and technology for cooking, compared to six per cent of the population in rural areas.
“For the population that uses solid fuels for cooking, a majority (62 per cent) use wood as the source of fuel,” the report says.
Nationally, 21 per cent of the population relies on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, space heating and lighting. There is a pattern between wealth status and primary reliance on clean fuels and technologies.
The percentage of the population relying on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, space heating and lighting increases with the wealth quintile. Eight in 10 people in the highest wealth quintile rely primarily on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, space heating and lighting.
More than half (53 per cent) of the urban population relies on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, space heating and lighting, compared to five in rural areas.
There are differences across counties in the proportion of the population primarily relying on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, space heating and lighting. Seven counties have a higher percentage of the population relying primarily on clean fuels and technologies than the national average (21 per cent).
These are Nairobi City (76 per cent), Kiambu (57 per cent), Kajiado (49 per cent), Mombasa (42 per cent), Kirinyaga (31 per cent), Machakos (29 per cent) and Nyeri (28 per cent).
Mandera county has the lowest percentage (1 per cent) of the population primarily relying on clean fuels and technologies, followed by Wajir, Tana River, Marsabit, Baringo, West Pokot, and Turkana, Samburu, and Elgeyo Marakwet counties (2 per cent).
The demographic and health survey aims to provide up-to-date information on socio-economic, demographic, nutrition and health indicators. This is for planning, monitoring and evaluation of various health programmes and policies.
The report also provides indicators to monitor and evaluate Kenya’s achievements towards Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals and aspirations of the Africa Agenda 2063.
The new report comes in the wake of another that found Kenya is among the countries with the largest numbers of people connected to off-grid solar products.
‘Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2023’ found that the number of Kenyans connected to off-grid solar is 23 million.
The number of people with access to stand-alone off-grid solar solutions dropped from 107 million in 2019 to 101 million in 2021 as the sector was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The decrease in sales in 2020 was significant compared with 2019 sales, which represented a peak,” part of the 105-page report says.
“Countries with the largest number of people connected to off-grid solar products were Kenya (23 million), India (15 million) and Ethiopia (7 million).”
The report was released on June 6 by the World Bank, the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation with external contributions.
Kenya showed the most rapid improvement, extending electrification by more than 3 percentage points each year between 2019 and 2021. By 2025, renewables will surpass coal as the primary means of producing electricity.
Of the renewable sources of electricity, solar PV will be the strongest performer, meeting almost half (46 per cent) of the increased electricity demand over the period.
It is closely followed by wind (42 per cent). Solar PV is expected to play a ‘pivotal role’ in energy transitions and support progress for SDG 7 and SDG 13.
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