Malawi through the Presidential Initiative on Cookstoves, made a commitment in 2013 to distribute 2 million energy efficient cookstoves national wide by 2020 which was achieved in October in 2020. The aim of the initiative is to minimize wood fuel consumption which is a major source of cooking energy in the country. A National Cookstove Steering Committee chaired by the Ministry of Energy was etablished to oversee the initiative and other cleaner cooking interventions. Other members of the committee are various NGO’s working in the energy sector, academia and research institutions. Another challenge was set to distribute an additional 2 million cookstoves by 2026. This will entail 20% of households in Malawi using the clean and efficient cookstoves. The Ministry also intends to reduce the dependency on biomass energy from 80% to 70% by 2026 and strengthen the role of decentralised structures in promoting the use of biomass technologies by 2023.
Malawi government through projects such as UNDP funded Access to Clean and Renewable Energy (ACRE) and Phikani Moganizira Chilengedwe supported by the Government of Japan is promoting the use of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the urban and peri-urban centers across the country. The main objective is to reduce the use of charcoal in the targeted areas. The activities under these initiatives include awareness campaigns, promotions and lobbying enabling environment for the LPG industry. The Ministry is also working with other stakeholders who are also promoting LPG in the country by providing policy directives.
The Ministry has been promoting alternative sources of energy to supplement firewood and charcoal. The alternatives which the department promotes are biomass briquettes and biogas. With funding from UNDP under various projects, the Minisrty has been training communities in various districts in briquette making so that they can take it as an income generating activity and source of heat energy. The department has installed household biogas digestors for selected beneficiaries under the UNDP/GEF funded Increasing Access to Clean Decentralized Energy Services in Selected Vulnerable Areas in Malawi (IACADES). The department is also working with other stakeholders who are also promoting these alternative energy sources. Under the Phikani Moganizira Chilengedwe initiatives, biogas diegsters have been installed in some prisons in Malawi.
