The government has been urged to strengthen its efforts to increase access to clean cooking energy as millions of Ugandans continue to depend on firewood and charcoal.
The call was made by Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company (UECCC) Managing Director Roy Nyamutale Baguma at the Uganda Clean Cooking and Green Finance Forum 2026 held at Nswanjere village, Bujjuko in Mpigi, district.
Baguma said the transition to clean cooking requires joint efforts by government, financial institutions, the private sector, development partners and faith-based organisations.
He explained that the continued use of firewood and charcoal is affecting people’s health and contributing to deforestation.
“we want to bring together collaborators that can help us to penetrate the private institutions that are the major users of our solid fuels such as charcoal and firewood and of course I’m sure you’re aware that this is degrading our environment, this is also use of pollutant fuels is also dangerous for the health of people and it is very critical that we now transition our cooking towards cleaner sources of energy”.He stressed.
The Managing Director of ECO Group, Rose Atwiine, encouraged Ugandans to adopt the use of electric pressure cookers, electric and induction stoves, LPG, biogas, ethanol and improved charcoal stoves to protect the environment and cut down on smoke in homes.
Mawokota North MP Amelia Kyambadde called for more public awareness campaigns to encourage Ugandans to adopt clean cooking technologies and change from traditional cooking methods.
According to the 2024 Population and Housing Census, only 3.8 percent of Uganda’s 10.8 million households use clean energy for cooking, leaving more than 10 million households dependent mainly on biomass.
