The scene is repeated daily in millions of homes in developing countries: a dense, pungent cloud of smoke that envelops the domestic space, transforming the fundamental act of preparing food into a serious threat to health. Lack of access to Clean Cooking continues to have profound and interconnected impacts on public health, gender equality, economic development and the environment. This silent crisis, unfortunately, often goes unnoticed in the global debate on major energy transitions, but its numbers are catastrophic.
As underlined by the report “Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa: Progress update and roadmap to implementation” by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the lack of access to clean cooking systems represents a dramatic challenge, catalyzing consequences ranging from respiratory diseases to deforestation, from the penalization of women to the worsening of poverty. The effects are measurable: an estimated 3 million premature deaths per year are attributable to the absence of efficient and clean cooking systems, with particularly serious pressure on women and children, the subjects most exposed to harmful emissions generated by the use of traditional fuels such as wood, coal and agricultural waste. Every twelve months, CO2 emissions attributable to unclean domestic cooking are equivalent to those recorded in international aviation and shipping. The World Health Organization itself estimates that the failure to adopt clean cooking systems contributes to 3.2 million premature deaths every year, with women and children representing 60 percent of the victims. In many rural communities, the daily collection of wood leads to frequent accidents, increased risks of burns and home fires, negatively impacting education, work and family well-being.
The most critical picture emerges in sub-Saharan Africa, where around 80 percent of families do not have access to clean cooking methods. Here the challenge becomes structural: while in the rest of the world the number of people without access to clean cooking technologies has halved since 2010, in this region the phenomenon is growing, favoring the vicious circle of disease, environmental exploitation and obstacles to economic development. In sub-Saharan Africa there are over 815,000 premature deaths per year linked to the inhalation of toxic fumes produced by the combustion of non-renewable biomass and there is a notable loss of forest cover.
Faced with the gravity of the situation, Eni launched a structured program in 2018, “Eni for Clean Cooking”, dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of providing advanced solutions for cooking food free of charge. The project aims to limit damage from exposure to fumes, combat deforestation and promote fair and sustainable growth.
To date, Eni has distributed improved stoves to approximately 3 million people in Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Rwanda, Angola, the Republic of Congo and Tanzania. The declared objective is to reach at least 10 million beneficiaries in the sub-Saharan area by 2027, encouraging the transition towards advanced systems capable of completely eliminating the use of non-renewable biomass. Continuing in this direction, by 2030 the aim is to reach 20 million safe access to clean cooking.
Guido Brusco, general manager of Global Natural Resources at Eni, explains that the benefits of clean cooking systems go far beyond improving health and energy efficiency. «Reducing deforestation is one of Africa’s priorities and encouraging the local production of stoves contributes both to the generation of jobs and to the reduction of the carbon footprint linked to the distribution of the devices».
The Eni model is based on local production: 90 percent of the improved stoves distributed are made in the recipient countries, creating opportunities for local businesses, generating technical and entrepreneurial skills, and strengthening community economies. The support offered goes beyond simple delivery, involving manufacturers in scalability, technology transfer and access to capital and markets.
Interaction with communities takes place through organizations rooted in the area, encouraging the direct involvement of families and the practical understanding of the benefits. The interventions, focused on health education and awareness-raising, aim to promote a lasting and autonomous community support network.
Domestic benefits: savings, safety and health
The introduction of improved stoves into homes has tangible impacts on domestic savings: it reduces the amount of fuel collected or purchased, reduces the time required to prepare meals and limits domestic accidents related to fire and burns. From a health point of view, the advantages are even more evident: the reduction in smoke emissions significantly lowers the incidence of respiratory diseases and eye disorders.
It’s not just a question of technology, but of actual quality of life. Eni projects include regular monitoring of the impacts on families, with public health activities dedicated to both the assessment of the health status and changes in domestic pollution. Through campaigns promoting correct nutrition and hygiene practices, the spread of common diseases, accidents and malnutrition is prevented, strengthening the overall well-being of communities.
Show cooking and culinary demonstrations, studied on local gastronomic traditions, are used as an innovative dissemination tool, encouraging the assimilation of healthy and balanced eating practices.
A gender perspective: freeing up time and energy for women and girls
The domestic burden required for collecting fuel and preparing meals, historically attributed to women and girls, often compromises school attendance, access to work and reinforces gender inequalities. The adoption of clean systems contributes significantly to female empowerment, freeing up time and energy to be allocated to training, paid work or family care.
According to Luigi Ciarrocchi, director of CCUS, Forestry & Agro-feedstock at Eni, «a just energy transition will never be achieved if economic and social sustainability for all actors in the supply chain is not taken into account. For Eni, the transition is not just technological innovation: it is a commitment to radically transform energy production and consumption, ensuring inclusiveness and long-term sustainability.”
Towards decarbonisation: carbon credits and net zero objectives
The reduction in the consumption of non-renewable biomass obtained with the free distribution of improved stoves allows Eni to generate carbon credits, used to offset the residual emissions foreseen in the Decarbonization Plan. The objective is to contribute in a concrete way to the commitments of net zero emissions by 2050.
The program also evolves on the technological front: the first phase sees the distribution of improved cookstoves, capable of reducing the use of traditional biomass by 60 percent and producing benefits in terms of CO2, health and economic sustainability. Starting from 2025, the distribution of “advanced” cookstoves has started, including induction models for urban areas and pyrolytic-gasifiers for rural contexts. The latter encourage the use of agricultural waste and agri-feedstock by-products, eliminating the use of non-renewable biomass and further strengthening both the positive impacts on health and the fight against deforestation. Feasibility studies are underway in Mozambique, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Cameroon and Ghana, for the large-scale development of these systems.
The battle for universal access to clean cooking represents one of the most decisive bets for the future of Africa, at the crossroads between social sustainability, health and environmental protection. The experience gained from the Eni for Clean Cooking program lays the foundations for a replicable and scalable model, capable of generating concrete benefits for millions of people.
The road is still long, but numbers and impacts suggest that investing in innovative clean cooking solutions is today one of the most effective ways to promote equitable development, gender equality and collective well-being, while reducing the burden on the environment. In a global context marked by growing fragility, focusing on secure access to domestic energy proves to be a strategic choice, both for those who live on the African continent and for the future of the planet.
