Tanzania must address deep-rooted cooking habits and attitudes alongside expanding access to clean energy technologies if it is to achieve its clean cooking targets, Energy Minister Deogratius Ndejembi has said.
Mr Ndejembi said yesterday that distributing clean cooking technologies alone would not be enough to convince more Tanzanians to abandon firewood and charcoal.
He said behavioural change should be treated as an equally important part of the country’s clean cooking strategy.
“Despite having a clean cooking energy strategy, if we do not invest in changing our traditions and practices, we will find ourselves back where we started. As we promote technology, we must also invest in changing Tanzanians’ attitudes towards clean cooking energy,” he said.
The Minister was speaking in Kizimkazi, South Unguja, during a Clean Cooking Energy Dialogue organised by the Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation (MIF).
The forum brought together government officials, private-sector representatives, development partners, financial institutions, technology providers, researchers and civil society organisations to discuss how Tanzania can accelerate access to affordable and sustainable clean cooking energy.
Mr Ndejembi said government efforts had helped increase the proportion of Tanzanians using clean cooking energy from 6.9 per cent in 2021 to 28.6 per cent in 2025.
While describing the increase as progress, he said the figures also showed that a large majority of Tanzanians still depend on traditional cooking fuels.
The challenge is particularly significant in public institutions.
Of the 31,395 institutions serving more than 100 people a day, only 2,616 currently use clean cooking energy, according to the Minister.
The institutions include schools, hospitals, prisons, colleges and training centres.
Mr Ndejembi said the figures demonstrated the scale of investment required to move institutions away from firewood and charcoal.
“Change cannot be achieved by relying on the government budget alone,” he said, calling for stronger partnerships and mobilisation of financial resources.
He urged financial institutions to introduce affordable financing schemes that would allow schools, hospitals and other institutions to acquire clean cooking systems without paying the full upfront cost.
He also challenged private companies to develop innovative financing models, including instalment payments and affordable credit.
Development partners, he said, should support projects capable of reaching more institutions and help successful pilot projects move into large-scale and long-term investment.
Mr Ndejembi also urged stakeholders to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach when promoting clean cooking technologies.
He said communities should be encouraged to use technologies that match resources available in their areas.
For example, areas with large quantities of livestock manure could use the waste to produce biogas for cooking, reducing dependence on firewood and charcoal.
He said a combination of technologies would be critical in expanding clean cooking access across Tanzania because different communities have different resources, needs and economic circumstances.
The government has taken several measures to accelerate the transition, including public awareness campaigns, clean cooking exhibitions and programmes providing subsidies for cooking gas cylinders and improved stoves to rural and peri-urban households.
Other initiatives include financing arrangements that allow consumers to pay for electric cooking appliances through their electricity bills.
The government has also promoted clean cooking systems in institutions serving more than 100 people a day.
It has further reduced VAT on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), cylinders, tanks, smart LPG meters and machines used to produce alternative charcoal.
Mr Ndejembi said the government had also strengthened coordination among ministries and public institutions while increasing collaboration with the private sector, civil society organisations and development partners.
He said clean cooking should not be treated as a household issue alone because of its wider implications for health, the environment, the economy, gender equality and education.
The Minister welcomed the Zanzibar Government’s preparations for a Clean Cooking Energy Strategy, saying the initiative demonstrated its commitment to ensuring people have access to safe, affordable and sustainable cooking energy.
He said the Union Ministry of Energy would continue working with Zanzibar’s Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals on areas including strategy implementation, coordination, resource mobilisation, private-sector participation, data collection and monitoring.
Mr Ndejembi also commended MIF for placing clean cooking among its key priorities and for bringing together stakeholders to discuss practical ways of accelerating the transition.
For Tanzania, the message from the dialogue was clear: the clean cooking transition will require more than new technologies.
It will also require affordable financing, sustained public education and a willingness to change long-established cooking practices.
