How these Kakamega women are embracing smoke-free kitchens with innovative waste fuels

Its a bright sunny Monday in Emusonga Village in Kakamega, and about 15 women are mixing charcoal dust as they murmur traditional songs.

This has been their routine once a week since 2023.

The women, members of New Recada Women Group use charcoal dust collected from charcoal stores within Kakamega town. The waste is mixed with molasses and put through a moulding machine to form charcoal briquettes.

The product is used as an alternative to wood fuel in a number of households in Lurambi, with the surplus sold to other clients outside Kakamega.

The New Recada group made up of 15 women and three men began its journey in 2023 after founder, Irene Nasimiyu received training from Sauti Kenya on climate change and sustainable livelihoods.

The training exposed Ms Nasimiyu and other locals to strategies aimed at responding to impacts of climate change.

Ms Nasimiyu chose to work on alternative to wood fuel in a bid to help help protect the neighbouring Kakamega Forest which was bleeding from illegal extraction of wood for fuel.

“Being a woman, I understand how much wood fuel we use in our homes, and I understand the source of the wood,” said Nasimiyu, a journalist based in Kakamega.

Wood fuel challenges

Before this transition, Ms Nasimiyu and many women in her community faced multiple challenges that affected their health, the environment, and their livelihoods.

“Cooking depended heavily on firewood and charcoal, which filled kitchens with heavy smoke causing constant coughing, eye irritation, and long-term respiratory illnesses. Women and children were the larger group to be affected because they spent hours near the fire,” she notes.

Environmentally, the demand for firewood and charcoal contributed to deforestation, with trees being cut faster than they could be replaced.

This worsened soil erosion, reduced rainfall reliability, and made their farmlands less productive. Also the rising cost of fuel and lack of alternative income sources left families vulnerable economically.

But Nasimiyu says that this transformation has kicked away the uncertainties like unsustainable practices that drained health, the environment, and the hopes for the future.

In addition, the briquettes are slowly becoming a key source of livelihoods to the women.

Each sack sells for between 700 and 800 shillings and with steady production they make between 10 and 50 sacks a day.

Carbon emission

According to the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, traditional firewood emits about 1.7 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilogram burned while charcoal emits about 2.2 kilograms.

Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis states that Kenya energy sector is the highest source of emission with 51 per cent of the total carbon emission coming from electricity and heat production, manufacturing and construction industries.

The carbon emission reduction is important in a country like Kenya where indoor air pollution causes more than 19,000 premature deaths every year according to the World Health Organization, with most of those affected being women and children.

Carbon offset tools are also emerging in their work. Materials such as carbon footprint calculators are used to measure the amount of carbon dioxide saved when briquettes replace firewood and charcoal.

In Kenya, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) use satellite imagery, mobile-based monitoring systems, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to measure the amount of carbon stored in forests and estimate national carbon stocks.

These tools allow Kenya to track how much carbon is being lost through deforestation, and how community projects like briquettes contribute to reduced emissions.

At the international level, community projects can be verified through platforms such as Gold Standard and Verra digital registries, which record and trade carbon credits.

In some countries, Internet of Things (IoT) enabled cookstove sensors have been used to measure real-time emissions and fuel savings. Kenya is also making several efforts to use these tools to strengthen accuracy.

Economic survey 2025 indicated that the report of respiratory related diseases increased rapidly in 2024 of up to 30.2 per cent compared to 2022 that it was 22.3 per cent.

Also, Division of Tuberculosis and other Lung disease indicates that there has been a rapid increase of respiratory infections since 2020 that indicated 18,147,117 reported cases to 24,237,343 in 2023.

“My daughter told me about briquettes. This prompted me to reach out to the group via a phone. Since then, my cooking experience has completely changed. Briquettes produce no smoke, keep the kitchen clean, last up to several hours,” said Sheila Makokha, a hotel operator in Lubao, Kakamega County.

Makokha added that she now spends less, cooks efficiently both at home and in her hotel, and she only need to make a phone call and the she receives the briquettes at her doorstep.

Kenya’s forest cover is currently at 8.83 percent according to the Kenya Forest Service, still below the target of 10 percent by 2030, and the country loses about 50,000 hectares of forest every year mainly because of firewood and charcoal.

Each sack of briquettes replaces about 20 kilograms of charcoal and with their production capacity, the group saves the equivalent of 50 trees every month.  

Kenya had 2.72Mha of natural forest extending over 4.6 % of its land area. Kakamega alone lost 130 Ha of its humid primary forest making up to 4.6% of its total tree loss.

The Kenya Forest Service is making good use of digital platforms to increase awareness for good tree growing practices by conducting campaigns through media and climate action events to mobile-based sensitization and tracking tools.

Ceremonial plantings led by President William Ruto are shared widely online to inspire citizens, while the ACT Awards recognize the individuals and groups that have devoted their time and resources to tree growing.

These combined efforts aim at restoring degraded landscapes, promoting renewable energy, and reducing dependence on firewood and charcoal.

Dr Thomas Kitpoo, Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests at the Kenya Forest Service confirms that Kenya is targeting to grow 15 billion trees by 2032 under the national landscape and ecosystem restoration strategy.

“Weather patterns have become unpredictable and this has affected tree planting programs, which is a major challenge. As KFS, we are developing our nursery infrastructure so that we can raise 1.5 billion seedlings every year. 15 billion trees are not a small number, it is ambitious, but measures are in place to make it work,” said Dr. Kitpoo.

At Emusonga village, the New Racada Women ensures that nothing from the process of making briquettes goes to waste as the ash and residues left over from production are used as fertilizer in kitchen gardens, improving the soil and helping families grow their own vegetables.

Flora Muketi, a member of the group says that  the soil fertility in her kitchen garden has improved and she now harvests vegetables every week, which she could not do before.

All the 18 members in the group now have active kitchen gardens, reducing the need to buy vegetables from markets and improving their household nutrition.

Technological advancements

The group uses simple technology to expand its reach. They market their briquettes on social media, sharing photos, prices and updates with customers in Kakamega, Bungoma and Busia. They also use the public events like Agricultural shows, Sports day, public celebrations to showcase their briquettes.

After they have received payments through mobile money, which makes transactions safer and transparent. They send their money in the bank and make every details transparent and open to every member.

“We should be going digital soon as we are creating an application to enable us reach more customers and track our market structure, still we are just following up via phone calls to confirm if our customers have received the briquettes as they have ordered, “ said Nasimiyu.

“We have attracted important partnerships, for example GIZ that gave us charcoal briquette machine which we use to make briquette,” said Nasimiyu.

She added: “Digital mapping tools have really helped us in tracking where our briquettes are being used. When people see the positive impact of the briquettes then we believe we have saved a lot of trees. We start to believe in the power of switching to briquettes. Technology helps to tell our story better and reach more people.”

The Kakamega County Ministry of Environment has named New Racada Women climate champions and invites them to exhibitions, agricultural shows and policy events.

The group has also been given opportunity to train youth groups such as Kakamega Voices of Change and students from Liberty Africa on how to make briquettes, market them digitally and advocate for climate action.

Recently, they have showcased their work at the Kakamega Agricultural Show and during World Food Day at Bukura where local leaders took note of their impact to establishing a sustainable source of energy.

“As a county, we work with organized groups to plant trees, promote renewable energy and mainstreaming climate change in our development plan. Clean energy being one of this, we are holding it jealously. Cooking solutions like briquette, act as a source of clean cooking solution and we encourage and give them platforms to showcase their impact to solutions that lead to positive environmental impact, “said Peter Mathia, Environment and Natural Resources Specialist, Kakamega County.

The project supports several Sustainable Development Goals including affordable and clean energy, climate action, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, life on land and zero hunger.

Each briquette they sell reduces smoke in homes, helps restore forest cover towards the 10 per cent national target and supports kitchen gardens that store more carbon in the soil.

Globally, clean cooking solutions are also supported by digitalisation. In Ghana, apps such as CLEANCOOK track stove that uses briquettes and help in monitoring health improvements.

In Uganda, they use mobile-based verification tools that allow communities to generate carbon credits. India has not been left behind as digital carbon registries have been adopted to scale up clean cooking projects. In some countries, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors are fitted into stoves to measure emissions directly.

Ms Nasimiyu states that this project is not just about selling fuel, it is about how they use digital tool to change how communities cook, how they manage waste, how they farm and how they protect their forests. She said it is also about giving women a chance to earn and to lead in climate action.

The group still faces challenges. Getting raw materials requires permits and transport, drying briquettes during the rainy season is difficult even with their greenhouse dryer, and expanding to supply schools and hotels will need more machines and more trained people.

Despite this, they continue to grow because they see the difference in their homes and environment. Customers are saving money, children are breathing cleaner air and trees that would have been cut for charcoal are standing.

The group now plans to set up a central production hub to supply larger institutions while continuing to train others. They aim to help Kenya meet its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent by 2030.

Every sack they sell lead to a step towards making the environment a better place to stay and live, from the clean energy to ensuring better disposal of the wastes that they still recycle to be a source of cooking fuel.

The efforts of community groups like the New Racada Women in making clean briquettes fit well with the government’s plans in the Draft National Energy Policy 2025, which aims to give every Kenyan access to clean cooking and renewable energy by 2030.

By using mobile money to sell, social media to market, and simple digital tools to track their progress, the women are proving that technology and clean energy can go hand in hand.

As the country works to move away from firewood and charcoal and adopt cleaner options like LPG, solar, and bioenergy, their work is a clear example of how local actions can support national goals.