Cookstove carbon offset projects: a view from the ground with supplier KOKO Networks

With a highly specialised, fully integrated team of over 1,800 staff operating in Kenya, India, Singapore and the UK, KOKO Networks is a fearless innovator for the good of people and the planet. KOKO brings new ways of thinking and operating to solve the complex, urgent challenges threatening people and the planet.

KOKO’s first mission, KOKO Fuel, centres on protecting Africa’s forests. It does so by tackling Africa’s primary driver of deforestation: charcoal, used across the continent for cooking.

Today, 2.4bn people across the world still cook on open fires or use stoves fuelled by charcoal, biomass, or coal. In Africa, 923m people lack access to clean cooking and rely on highly polluting fuels such as wood and charcoal. The charcoal industry – which dominates the market for cooking fuel in Africa – is responsible for the loss of 5m hectares of African forests every year. 

KOKO Fuel exists to tackle Africa’s deforestation crisis by providing low-income households with a healthier, more convenient and affordable alternative fuel to charcoal for cooking.

The company uses smart technology to deliver affordable bio-ethanol clean cooking fuel to over 925,000 customers across 8 urban networks in Kenya, enabling families to choose healthier and safer ways to cook that protect the plant.

Bioethanol is stored in reservoirs at fuel stations before KOKO Fuel’s MicroTankers deliver clean fuel to a network of more than 2,000 convenience stores across 8 urban networks in Kenya. KOKO Fuel Points are conveniently within a few minutes walk from any household in the cities they serve. Meanwhile, agents are creating meaningful new revenue streams while reporting higher footfall in their stores as a result of selling KOKO Fuel’s products. 

KOKO Fuel uses carbon finance to compete with charcoal and accelerate a clean energy transition in the absence of government subsidies.

This summer, KOKO Fuel celebrates its 1m customer milestone in Kenya and will soon roll out its operations in Rwanda. 

This article originally appeared in IC Intelligence Insight 09: Climate & Nature Redux. Click to view more articles from the report.