GRANTEE

DanChurchAid (DCA)

DanChurchAid (DCA) is a Danish, faith-rooted humanitarian and development organization working through local partners worldwide to save lives, build resilience, and fight inequality. In Kenya’s Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlements, DCA along with strategic partner Mwangaza Light — is helping households move from wood and charcoal to electric cooking, in line with Energy Corps’ energy-agnostic, impact-first approach.

Electric Cooking

Africa (Kenya)

Mwangaza Light's Regional Coordinator, Ibrahim Ekiru, conducts a demonstration of how to use an electric pressure cooker in Kakuma refugee camp. 

Mwangaza Light's Regional Coordinator, Ibrahim Ekiru, conducts a demonstration of how to use an electric pressure cooker in Kakuma refugee camp. 

Focus & Impact

From Access to Everyday Use.  In Kakuma and Kalobeyei, electricity access is expanding fast, yet more than 90% of households still cook with wood and charcoal, and just 2% of households reported access to clean cooking in a 2025 survey. DCA’s initiative, The Cooking Dividend, helps more than 1,000 refugee and host-community households (roughly 7,500 people) use the power reaching their communities for one of their most essential daily needs.

Designed for Affordability.  Households access induction cookers through pay-as-you-go financing, paired with a discounted daytime electricity tariff and incentives that make regular electric cooking affordable. This tackles the appliance, cost, and trust barriers that keep families cooking with the biomass that causes indoor air pollution.

Real Benefits for Families.  Electric cooking reduces the time, cost, smoke exposure, and safety risks of biomass cooking, particularly for women and girls, while demonstrating a model that can scale to other refugee and last-mile communities.

Project Funded

Energy Corps is funding DCA’s The Cooking Dividend project, to expand access to electric cooking for refugee and host-community households in Kakuma and Kalobeyei, Kenya. Working with Mwangaza Light as a strategic partner with Renewvia Energy providing the solar-powered mini grid, the project will help households transition from firewood and charcoal to electric cooking.

VOICES FROM THE FIELD

“With Energy Corps and our partner Mwangaza Light, we can help refugee and host-community households in Kakuma and Kalobeyei move from biomass to electric cooking — cutting costs, protecting women and girls from the risks of fuel collection, and building a lasting, market-based model for clean energy.”

“With Energy Corps and our partner Mwangaza Light, we can help refugee and host-community households in Kakuma and Kalobeyei move from biomass to electric cooking — cutting costs, protecting women and girls from the risks of fuel collection, and building a lasting, market-based model for clean energy.”

Karen Poore,

Country Director – Kenya, DanChurchAid

Karen Poore,

Country Director – Kenya, DanChurchAid

“We are building the foundation for a financially sustainable model for electric cooking in refugee and host communities — showing how affordable financing, smart tariffs, and community incentives can make electric cooking a viable choice for households.”

“We are building the foundation for a financially sustainable model for electric cooking in refugee and host communities — showing how affordable financing, smart tariffs, and community incentives can make electric cooking a viable choice for households.”

Dr. Catrine Shroff,

CEO & Co-Founder, Mwangaza Light

Dr. Catrine Shroff,

CEO & Co-Founder, Mwangaza Light

ENERGY CORPS + DCA: WHY IT MATTERS

Energy Corps is proud to support DCA and Mwangaza Light in showing that clean cooking can take hold even where it has long been out of reach. By expanding electricity access into everyday use in the kitchen, this partnership improves daily life for families and tests a business model that can scale to other refugee and last-mile communities.

Visit DanChurchAid

DanChurchAid, Kalobeyei Village, Kenya

DanChurchAid, Kalobeyei Village, Kenya