Clean cooking in Kenya's public institutions

When conversations about clean cooking take place, they often focus on households. Yet some of Kenya's largest consumers of cooking energy are public institutions such as schools, hospitals, prisons, and correctional facilities. Kenya has more than 97,000 educational institutions, 13,000 healthcare facilities, and 130 correctional facilities. More than 90% of schools and healthcare facilities, and over 99% of correctional facilities, rely on firewood or charcoal for cooking. Every day, these institutions prepare meals for hundreds and sometimes thousands of people, often operating their kitchens for long hours.

For institutions that rely heavily on firewood, this comes with several challenges. Beyond the cost of buying and transporting fuel, there is the effort required to handle and store large quantities of firewood. Smoke and soot affect the kitchen environment and the people working in it, while continued demand for firewood puts pressure on forest resources and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

The scale of this dependence became clear during assessments carried out through the Accelerating County Cooking Transitions (A2CT) project. At Manyani Prison in Taita Taveta County, one prison officer remarked that the institution's firewood stove had “never been turned off” since the prison was established in 1954. A similar picture emerged at Shikusa Borstal in Kakamega County, where the firewood stove remains burning throughout the day. As one staff member put it, “a matchbox is not a cost we even consider,” because once the fire is lit, it is rarely put out.

These observations capture the reality of institutional cooking. These kitchens cook day after day, year after year, supporting an essential public service. So, how can cleaner cooking help public institutions reduce costs and improve working conditions and service delivery, while contributing to Kenya's clean energy transition?

The experience of Shikusa Borstal Institution offers some valuable insights.

Located in Kakamega County, Shikusa Borstal Institution is one of Kenya's two correctional institutions for young male juvenile offenders. Established in 1963, the institution is home to approximately 251 juveniles and employs 40 staff.

Feeding this population requires significant cooking energy. The institution currently consumes approximately 300 kilogrammes of firewood every day, costing around KES 2,800 daily, equivalent to more than KES 1 million annually.

Through technical support from the A2CT project, Shikusa installed a prefabricated biogas demonstration system, becoming the first institutional facility supported by the project to adopt biogas for clean cooking. The system is currently being used to prepare breakfast and lunch for approximately 40 staff members, providing a practical demonstration of how biogas can be integrated into institutional cooking operations and reduce reliance on traditional biomass fuels.

While this represents only a small part of the institution's overall cooking needs, the benefits are already evident. Kitchen staff no longer have to contend with smoke when cooking with biogas, while pots, surfaces, and the kitchen remain cleaner due to the absence of soot associated with firewood. Staff have also found the system easy to operate, requiring minimal training.

These changes may seem simple, but they matter. For kitchen staff, clean cooking technology needs to be practical, reliable, and easy to use. Reduced smoke and soot, together with a cleaner working environment, provide immediate and tangible benefits.

Willing to transition, but investment remains a challenge

The biogas demonstration has opened a wider conversation within Shikusa about what the institution's future kitchen could look like. Management plans to introduce 50 kg LPG cylinders for preparing breakfast and light meals for the 251 juveniles, expand the existing biogas system, and explore other cleaner options, including electric cooking and briquettes.

This ambition aligns with the Government of Kenya's wider efforts to transition correctional facilities away from wood fuel. The State Department for Correctional Services has set 2028 as the target for transitioning correctional institutions to clean energy, with LPG, biogas, and electric cooking among the options being explored. The government has also recognised the importance of partnerships and resource mobilisation to support this transition.

For Shikusa, however, the high upfront cost of institutional clean cooking technologies remains a major barrier. While there is a clear willingness to transition, financing these investments within existing institutional budgets can be challenging. The institution is therefore looking for partners and additional support to build on the biogas demonstration and progressively reduce its reliance on traditional firewood.

This experience raises a broader question for Kenya's institutional clean cooking transition: How can we make cleaner institutional cooking solutions affordable and accessible to public facilities that are ready to transition but cannot meet the upfront investment costs on their own?

A transition, not a one-time switch

Moving away from firewood does not necessarily mean replacing every stove at once. Shikusa's experience shows that institutional clean cooking can happen in phases, with different technologies serving different cooking needs. Factors such as the type and volume of food being prepared, fuel availability, infrastructure, cooking time, and cost will influence which solutions work best.

Rather than asking which single technology should replace firewood, a more practical question is: Which combination of technologies can gradually reduce dependence on traditional biomass while keeping institutional cooking reliable, affordable, and efficient?

A phased approach allows institutions to introduce cleaner technologies step by step, learn what works, and spread investment costs over time.

Why institutional clean cooking matters

Institutional clean cooking is about much more than changing fuels. Cleaner and more efficient technologies can reduce institutions' dependence on firewood and the costs associated with its purchase, transport, handling, and storage.

The benefits also extend beyond the kitchen. Reducing firewood consumption can ease pressure on forest resources and contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Institutional clean cooking can also support circular economy approaches, particularly where organic waste from schools, hospitals, and correctional facilities can be converted into biogas and used as an energy resource.

Public institutions also offer significant potential for scale. When facilities preparing hundreds of meals every day reduce their dependence on firewood, the benefits can quickly add up. Replicated across schools, hospitals, prisons, and other public institutions, these changes could mean lower fuel costs, reduced demand for biomass, and improved working environments for kitchen staff.

What will it take to scale institutional clean cooking?

Shikusa shows that interest in cleaner cooking can grow when institutions experience the benefits firsthand. However, demonstration projects alone are not enough.

Partnerships between government, development partners, technology providers, financial institutions, and the private sector can help create viable pathways for institutional transitions. Technical support is equally important to ensure technologies are properly sized, installed, safely operated, and maintained.

As institutions transition, tracking changes in firewood consumption, fuel expenditure, cooking time, emissions, and staff experience will help demonstrate what works and strengthen the case for further investment. Demonstration sites such as Shikusa can therefore become valuable learning sites, helping answer practical questions: What works? At what cost? What savings are possible? And what support would enable other institutions to follow?

Looking ahead

Shikusa Borstal is still at an early stage of its clean cooking journey. While the biogas system does not yet meet the institution's full cooking needs, it provides a practical starting point and has strengthened interest in exploring additional clean cooking options.

As Kenya works towards universal access to clean cooking and transitions its correctional facilities away from wood fuel, public institutions should become a bigger part of the conversation. Schools, hospitals, prisons, and correctional facilities are significant energy users where cleaner cooking can deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits at scale.

For SNV, this work forms part of a broader vision in which sustainable energy and water solutions become central to how institutions operate. By working with governments, development partners, technology providers, financial institutions and local actors, institutional clean cooking can be connected to regenerative local models that strengthen markets and create opportunities for smallholder livelihoods.

Shikusa shows that the transition does not have to happen all at once. It can start with one practical step. With the right partnerships and investment, experiences such as this can provide useful lessons for other public institutions across Kenya.