The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Alternatives to Charcoal project, has awarded six grants to local Zambian companies that promote clean cooking fuels and technologies. At a launch event at the Kalingalinga school yard on March 31, Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff, launched the grants and highlighted the U.S. government’s partnership with the private sector to help Zambia tackle climate change through clean cooking.
The six grants totaling almost US $1 million total (21 million kwacha) are an essential step in strengthening Zambia’s resilience to climate change by supporting efficient electric cooking, biomass gasifier stoves, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and innovative pay-as-you-go (PayGo) technologies in urban areas. The grantees include Vitalite, KDD Gas, Burn, Emerging Cooking Solutions, Tandem Consulting, and Financial Sector Deepening.
Each year, Zambia loses approximately 250,000 hectares of forest partly due to charcoal production used for cooking fuel in urban areas. The United States is supporting Zambia’s efforts to conserve forests, reduce harmful emissions, and achieve climate change goals. USAID’s Alternatives to Charcoal project is partnering with the private sector and taking a market-driven approach to curb charcoal use and promote low-emission alternatives.
Ensuring that economic and environmental benefits are equitable is vital to Zambia’s commitment to delivering the dividends of democracy and forms part of Zambia’s broader commitment to promoting a green economy. Attaining these economic and environmental benefits will require addressing how energy is used in Zambia, and more specifically ensuring that alternatives to charcoal – Zambia’s current, primary energy source – are affordable, accessible, and acceptable to Zambians.
USAID/Zambia