Energy 4 Impact was recently invited to attend a high level meeting by Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in Kampala to offer its expertise on the use of efficient institutional cookstoves in schools, as a way of reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

‘Green Schools’ is the name of a project that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is planning to implement with support from UNDP in Uganda, as part of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) - a set of policies, programmes and projects that developing countries undertake to contribute to the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The project aims to increase the use of improved cookstoves, biogas and solar systems in schools, by setting up a revolving fund to finance investments in clean energy technologies in an estimated 21,000 educational institutions throughout the country.

Energy 4 Impact was invited to the ministerial meeting to provide evidence of the impact of energy efficient institutional cookstoves in schools and their mitigation potential. Energy 4 Impact supports 18 manufacturers who provide certified, high-quality cookstoves that have been installed in nearly 400 schools in Uganda. The stoves can cut down biomass fuel consumption by up to 50%.

-says Uganda Country Manager Julius Magala.

Other initiatives that Energy 4 Impact is supporting and advising in Uganda are the World Bank / Africa Clean Cooking Energy Solutions (ACCES) Distribution Challenge Fund, and the Uganda National Alliance on Clean Cooking’s awareness campaign called Fumbalive.

Through the ‘Energising Business Development’ programme Energy 4 Impact is promoting the uptake of institutional cookstoves in schools in Uganda. It is working with cookstove makers to improve quality and market the benefits and use of improved institutional cookstoves through school awareness campaigns and participating in promotional events.