Publications

This survey-based baseline study gives insights into the work of the Solar Electric Cooking Partnership for Humanitarian Contexts (SOLCO) in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. SOLCO is a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at catalysing the transition from biomass-based cooking methods to solar-powered electric cooking in displacement across the globe.

This report summarises insights from 2008 household baseline surveys conducted in Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya in April, September, and October 2025. Data was collected from refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) as well as from host community members.

Samuel Hall has been engaged as the designated learning partner within the SOLCO Partnership, supporting LMC, and other stakeholders in strengthening the evidence base for effective humanitarian climate action partnerships.

The uptake of higher-tier (4+) clean cooking solutions, especially in last mile communities, is a critical but often underfunded and insufficiently prioritised need. Despite a diversity of viable technologies, including pure electric cooking (eCooking) powered by photovoltaic systems (solar PV) and PV-supported biomass gasifier stoves, as well as ethanol stoves, their widespread adoption remains a challenge due to various barriers, including upfront costs and low awareness among end-users about potential financial and health benefits. However, the decreasing cost of solar PV modules, and the increasing affordability of PV-supported clean cookstoves and appliances, have made that specific category of technologies more financially viable, cost-competitive and better aligned with the Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement on climate change (NDCs).

In the pursuit of sustainable development and climate resilience, off-grid solar electric cooking (e-cooking) technologies is a dual solution encompassing both climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.