Fueling The Future
Fueling The Future: How Clean Cooking Is Transforming Rural Schools Kitchens
By Christine Nyandat
When it’ s lunchtime in many of Kenya’ s rural schools, thick smoke fills the air as cooks prepare meals using firewood and charcoal. This long-standing practice carries heavy costs for the environment, the health of school staff and students, and the already strained budgets of parents and institutions. Charcoal use has contributed significantly to Kenya’ s deforestation, turning once lush forests into dry, degraded landscapes. A drive through the countryside reveals plumes of smoke rising from school kitchens, signaling the daily struggle with traditional fuels.
In most school compounds, piles of chopped logs sit behind the kitchens, while staff members split wood for the next meal. Inside the kitchen, one must squint through dense smoke and struggle for fresh air. After cooking hundreds of meals, soot coats the walls, ceilings, and pans. Despite ongoing efforts to promote clean cooking solutions, this remains the reality. A 2019 Clean Cooking Association of Kenya survey shows that 58 % of households still use fuelwood, rising to 93.2 % in rural areas.
Across Kenya, a quiet transformation is unfolding in school kitchens and communities. The government’ s bold plan to reach 10 million learners with daily school meals by 2030 goes far beyond providing food. It aims to improve children’ s health, enhance access to education, strengthen learning outcomes, stimulate local economies, and
When government agencies, NGOs, private innovators, and communities work together, clean cooking becomes a catalyst for better education outcomes, stronger climate action, and healthier rural communities. The shift to cleaner energy is not just a technological upgrade it is a commitment to dignity, efficiency, and opportunity for every learner.
build climate resilience plate by plate. This vision aligns closely with Kenya’ s broader education reforms outlined in the National Education Sector Strategic Plan( 2023-2027) and the Partnership Compact( 2021), both of which focus on improving learning and supporting longterm human capital development.
To accelerate this goal, Kenya launched its national chapter of the School Meals Coalition in 2024, led by the Ministry of Education with the World Food Programme serving as Secretariat. Supported by the GPE Technical Assistance Facility, the Coalition brings together government, development partners, and civil society to expand school feeding initiatives with Kenya firmly in the lead. This milestone builds on decades of progress since school meals first rolled out in 1980 through collaborations with WFP and other partners.
Yet, one long-standing challenge has been the dependence on firewood for preparing meals. According to the Kenya Medical Research Institute( 2024), boarding schools require up to 250 tonnes of firewood annually to meet their cooking needs, putting immense pressure on forests. Fortunately, change is underway. Several schools are phasing out firewood and embracing cleaner energy sources such as Liquid Petroleum Gas( LPG). Sinaga Girls Secondary School and St. Pius Got Matar Secondary School in
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