Clean Cooking helps to improve the lives of families in Africa and reduce the use of non-renewable biomass for cooking.
In 2018 we launched our Clean Cooking Program, which promotes access to higher efficiency cooking systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Compared to traditional methods like the three-stone hearth, these improved stoves ensure reduced wood and charcoal use, significantly cutting the carbon footprint linked to cooking and enhancing the quality-of-life of the families involved. Indeed, using improved stoves offers health benefits, boosts productivity, promotes gender equality, safeguards forests and biodiversity, and cuts GHG emissions. Clean Cooking is a cornerstone of our pledge to enhance living standards in sub-Saharan Africa. For this reason, we have signed the "Clean Cooking Declaration: Making 2024 the Key Year for Clean Cooking”, an initiative led by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which aims to speed up the global adoption of advanced cooking solutions. This is a vital step in guaranteeing access to affordable, dependable, sustainable and modern energy for everyone, in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7.
Currently, nearly 2 billion people, 1 billion of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa¹, cook using rudimentary and inefficient methods. Our aim is to reduce the use of unsustainable fuels across the continent, where meals are cooked over open fires or on rudimentary stoves, exposing people to harmful fumes from the combustion of charcoal, wood charcoal and other products and materials linked to unsustainable supply chains. As well as improving access to energy, clean cooking projects help to reduce the consumption of charcoal and firewood, which are among the main drivers of deforestation in many African countries. Furthermore, the local production and distribution of these improved cookstoves, in collaboration with national and international organisations already operating in the region, foster entrepreneurship and strengthen local economies. In addition, we intend to encourage the transition from improved cookstoves to advanced solutions capable of completely eliminating the use of unsustainable woody biomass.
(1) International Energy Agency (IEA) data.
The project fully integrates a gender perspective, recognising that women frequently handle meal preparation and spend a significant portion of their day not just on cooking but also on gathering fuel. The improved stoves, compared to traditional methods, nearly halve the use of woody biomass for the same results. In addition to reducing the time women spend gathering fuel and the costs families face when buying it, efficiency also means shorter cooking times, freeing up time for other activities. Lastly, there are additional health benefits, as the new stoves emit less smoke.
In 2025, around 2.2 million people were reached in sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the total to around 3.7 million since the program began. Around 440,000 improved cookstoves were distributed in Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda and Madagascar.
Eni's Clean Cooking initiatives gained fresh momentum in 2022 with the launch of improved stove distribution in Côte d'Ivoire, benefiting approximately 600,000 individuals.
In Mozambique, we have reached around 1 million people through the distribution of over 200,000 improved stoves across the country.
In the Republic of the Congo, the Clean Cooking Program was launched in 2023, and aims to enable the entire population of the two main cities (Brazzaville and Pointe Noire) to access the project by 2030. By the end of 2024, Eni had reached more than 200,000 people. The program also concentrates on supporting local small businesses engaged in stove production, helping them swiftly achieve the required quality and quantity. The goal for the country is to reach at least 3.5 million people.
In Angola, we have launched a program to promote access to more efficient and safer cooking solutions for households. The project, which has already reached more than 200,000 people, aims to reach more than 2 million people.
In Tanzania, a project was launched in 2024 with the aim of reaching 1 million people, starting from the regions of Tanga, Dodoma and Morogoro.
In Rwanda, the Clean Cooking Program commenced in the Nyagatare district in 2023. The first phase aims to reach 1 million people. Currently, 65,000 people are benefiting from the initiative. A second phase, aiming to reach an extra million people, will launch by the end of 2024. The country aims to reach 2 million people by 2030.
We have also developed a Clean Cooking project in Madagascar.
In line with the IEA scenarios and to ensure a fair energy transition, the Eni for Clean Cooking Program supports a gradual shift to “advanced” systems, including distributing induction stoves in cities and pyrolysis stoves in the countryside. These stoves encourage the circular economy by using agricultural waste, such as by-products from Eni's agri-feedstock supply chain.
An improved stove produced in Mozambique
Distribution of improved stoves in Mozambique
Distribution of improved stoves in Mozambique
Manufacturing of improved stoves in Mozambique
An improved stove produced
Distribution of improved stoves
Distribution of improved stoves
Manufacturing of improved stoves
More widespread use of better cooking systems in the most vulnerable communities can play a major role in tackling deforestation.
We contribute to improving the quality of life of the households involved in the initiative and support local businesses.
Eni launches the Clean Cooking Program in Angola, distributing locally-produced improved cookstoves to families.
A first phase of the project was launched in the district of Nyagatare in December 2024, where more than 66,000 people have already been reached.
In 2025, Eni began distributing “advanced” cookstoves, such as induction cookers for urban areas, or pyrolytic and gasification cookstoves for rural areas, which promote the use of agricultural waste, including by-products from Eni’s agrifeedstock supply chain. This development will help to further combat deforestation by gradually phasing out the use of non-renewable biomass, with a significant impact on deforestation and people’s health. In this regard, feasibility studies have already been launched for projects involving induction cookers and pyrolytic cookers in Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, the Ivory Coast, Zambia, Cameroon and Ghana.
Eni’s Clean Cooking Program forms part of a broader global context. Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda (SDG 7) aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” and, within this framework, the International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasises the importance of clean cooking initiatives. The World Health Organisation estimates that 2.9 million premature deaths occur each year due to household air pollution¹. It is also internationally recognised that clean cooking projects deliver significant health benefits to households, particularly for women and children, as reducing harmful smoke emissions in the home helps to lower the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. In May 2024, Eni signed the Clean Cooking Declaration: Making 2024 the pivotal year for Clean Cooking during the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa organised by the International Energy Agency (IEA). At UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Heads of State and Government, alongside business leaders and representatives of international institutions and civil society from around the world, gathered to draw attention to the issue, sharing the needs and initiatives already underway in Africa, with the aim of implementing all necessary measures to support these efforts and establishing 2024 as a crucial year for accelerating universal access to clean cooking.
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