A funding stoppage from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is hindering efforts to phase out polluting home cookstoves in Africa and replace them with cleaner alternatives. One billion Africans rely on highly polluting fuels to cook their meals, and the continent would need an investment of $4 billion annually to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). USAID grants were essential for small African companies that sell clean cooking fuels and devices, but the agency has stopped funding such programs, citing new standards for foreign assistance that prioritize making the US stronger, safer, or more prosperous.
The abrupt halt in funding has left entrepreneurs scrambling, with some companies downsizing their investments or seeking alternative funding sources. BioLite, a solar and clean cooking provider, had been awarded $1.5 million to deploy 500,000 clean stoves in three years, but the withdrawal of USAID funding has forced the company to scale back its plans. Raising funding from the private sector remains a challenge, and some companies are turning to carbon markets for financing.
However, the carbon market mechanism is still in its early stages, and some carbon offset programs have been found to be ineffective or exaggerate their climate benefits. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market has raised concerns about the methodologies used to measure the effectiveness of clean cooking programs, and a recent report found that some clean cooking projects were generating 18 times more credits than they should.
Companies like Sistema.bio, which offers a device that collects organic waste from animals and transforms it into renewable biogas, are transitioning to carbon markets under United Nations rules. However, this process is slow, and African countries need to sign bilateral agreements with developed nations to buy the credits. The impact of the USAID funding stoppage will be far-reaching, and companies are lobbying governments to speed up the process. The withdrawal of USAID funding has created a significant gap in the clean cooking sector, and it remains to be seen how companies will adapt and find alternative funding sources to continue their work.