Uganda’s home and industrial kitchens tell two conflicting stories when clean and safer cooking energy comes to the fore. While some are eagerly adopting modern alternatives, many others experiment briefly before abandoning them for varying reasons.
At the Wakiso-based Sesaco Confectionery Ltd, managing director Charles Nsubuga is one of the few Ugandans who have made the pragmatic switch from firewood to briquettes. Although the new way is cleaner and more convenient, he indicates the transition was not without challenges. ‘We stopped using firewood because it needs a lot of space to store and wastes a lot of time to prepare it -splitting; then there is also the problem of smoke that comes with using firewood that we wanted to address,’ he says. Mr Nsubuga, however, says though convenient, the cost of buying briquettes is still too high and that some of the briquettes are substandard .
Briquettes are compressed blocks of combustible biomass used as a sustainable, cost-effective fuel for cooking and heating. According to scientists, briquettes provide an affordable, smokeless energy source that curbs deforestation and improves indoor air quality. Mr Nsubuga’s experience of shifting from firewood to briquettes mirrors a national picture of slow adoption of technologies amid glaring hindrances and challenges, as captured by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), in a new value for money audit. The audit focuses on clean cooking energy interventions implemented by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD). Among the clean cooking energy and sustainable technologies being promoted by the ministry are Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), electricity, ethanol, biogas, briquettes and pellets.
The audit found that of the 26 companies that were making briquettes, only four (4) were certified. The authors quickly note this substandard technologies are common ‘charcoal cook stoves, briquettes, and charcoal fuels in the market, which outcompete the good quality products due to their low prices.’ Mr Edward Akol, the Auditor General, notes that these substandard technologies often break down faster, are inefficient (consume more fuel, produce low heat) and have high emissions to the environment. ‘It was also further noted through interviews that the non-compliance with standards (87 percent) allows low-quality products to dominate the market, especially since they are cheaper, which in turn promotes reliance on inefficient technologies, thus affecting the transition to cleaner cooking technologies,’ he says.
But Mr John Tumuhimbise, the assistant commissioner-in-charge of renewable energy at the MEMD, says they are increasing efforts to address the gaps in quality. ‘Some people are putting clay in the briquettes, which produces a lot of ash after burning. As a ministry, we still have the challenge of monitoring and enforcing quality to ensure uniformity,’ Mr Tumuhimbishe notes. He says the Renewable Energy Policy, which is under review, is focused on promoting a cleaner and safer alternative to firewood, such as the promotion of briquettes. He also says the government is open to supporting any innovations that promote renewable energy.
LPG abandonment, irregularities Mr Akol further observes that in the new interventions, such as the LPG Promotion, Supply, and Infrastructure Intervention project, which was implemented by the ministry, some recipients abandoned the gas cylinders when the time for refill came. The Shs969 billion project implementation timeline was 2020-2025, but not all the money was released for the implementation of the project, thus affecting the outcome. The cylinders were given to beneficiaries at subsidised costs. Some beneficiaries paid only 30 percent of the market price of the full set of new gas cylinders. This was around Shs100,000 for a ready-to-use gas cylinder of 12.5kg, instead of the market price of around Shs300,000. The report shows that 11 percent of beneficiaries had already abandoned the LPG cylinders and resorted to wood fuel or charcoal.
‘Through field visits and interviews, it was noted that, out of a total of 9757 people listed as beneficiaries to the LPG project by the ministry, 92 (95 percent) had received the LPG cylinder starter packs,’ the report reads. ‘Out of the 92 beneficiaries, 11(11 percent) beneficiaries had abandoned the LPG cylinders they received, citing reasons including their inability to afford the refill costs (Shs100,000), long distances to refill stations, among others,’ the report reads further. The report also shows irregularities in distribution. ‘From a sample of 9,702 beneficiaries, the team noted 172 beneficiaries that received LPG cylinder kits more than once,’ the audit shows. ‘Of these, 10 beneficiaries received the cylinders under the same project but through different service providers (Total and Stabex), while 162 beneficiaries received multiple LPG cylinder kits from the same provider (64 from Total, and 98 from Stabex),’ the OAG found. But beyond this, there were also incomplete records, which, according to the OAG, indicate possible exaggerations, according to the report.
‘Through analysis of the beneficiary data, the audit established that 880 beneficiaries (9 percent) of LPG project beneficiaries had incomplete or inaccurate records,’ the report reads. In the circumstances, the OAG says they could not confirm if a total of Shs406 million was spent on actual beneficiaries. ‘This lack of beneficiary verification and data integration not only exaggerates the reported number of households transitioning to clean cooking but also provides avenues for duplication and loss of the investments made by the government,’ Mr Akol states. According to the audit, in 2020, when the country was in panic over Covid-19, the government, through a Shs969 billion LPG project, aimed to boost the adoption of clean cooking by distributing one million gas cylinders over five years.
These resources, according to the ministry, were primarily utilised for the procurement of 39,769 LPG starter kits (Shs18.35b), acquisition of the central storage facility (Shs4.4 billion), and other essential activities such as procurement of a project vehicle, community sensitisation, consultancy services, and promotional campaigns. Ms Nanteza says the audit findings reflect deeper systemic challenges in Uganda’s clean cooking transition. The environmentalists believes the true transition to clean energy should be private-sector-led interventions. She emphasised the need for innovations that mirror charcoal’s flexible purchasing model, such as pay-as-you-cook gas meters, to overcome the lump-sum cost barrier for cylinders and refills. ‘LPG should also be given characteristics of charcoal, such as customers must be able to purchase only what they need or can afford immediately.
This calls upon innovation from the private sector to come up with pay-as-you-cook gas meters,’ she said. ‘The lump sum cost of getting a gas cylinder is also a major barrier. Research has shown that those who are given a gas cooker and cylinder use it but do not refill it thereafter. The huge lump sum for refilling is also a hindrance,’ she added. At the international level, Ms Nanteza called on funders such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Union, and the German International Cooperation agency -GIZ, to lift restrictions on financing LPG as a transitional fuel for Africa, given the limitations of electricity access. Amid this, the ministry noted that private players are stepping in to address affordability. At Flexi-Gas, for example, Internet of Things (IoT)- enabled smart gas meters allow users to pay only for what they consume via mobile money, with real-time tracking, low-balance alerts, and doorstep delivery.
The ministry established the cooking tariff for households aimed at promoting cooking with electricity, where households that consume 81-150 units incur a lower cost. However, the report indicates that a review of the National Population and Housing Census revealed that only 25.3 percent of the targeted households were connected to the grid in 2024, and therefore able to benefit from this tariff. ‘The number of connected households using over 80 units of electricity is also extremely limited, as reports indicate that only 10% of Ugandans can afford 100 kWh per month,’ Mr Akol noted. ‘Instead, the tariff is benefiting unintended beneficiaries who rarely use firewood. This has also negatively affected the effectiveness of this strategy in ensuring that as many people as possible transition to clean cooking options,’ he added. But the Ministry, in its official response, said they have a mix of interventions targeting different categories and locations.
‘The Ministry will prioritise a range of clean cooking technologies, which under the National Integrated Clean Cooking Strategy (being finalised) have been organised into six categories: sustainable wood fuel + Improved Cooking Stoves -ICS, processed biomass (pellets and briquettes, biogas, bioethanol, LPG and electric cooking),’ the Ministry stated. ‘The strategy further emphasises the need to deliver appropriate technologies for the different contexts, that is, urban, peri-urban, rural and humanitarian (refugee and host districts), and therefore each of the prioritised technologies will have a contribution,’ the Ministry added. But Mr Akol was blunt in his conclusion: ‘The existing subsidy programs and cooking tariffs have not effectively mitigated these financial barriers, which is compounded by low electricity connectivity among the population.’