Clean cooking sector support – Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda This project will be carried out in the four countries, as mentioned below. The budget will be distributed equally among these countries.*	BangladeshThe Bangladesh Country Action Plan (CAP) for Clean Cooking was developed in 2013, led by the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources with support of GACC, SNV, EnDev, WB and USAID among others. The highest priority was the creation of the Household Energy Platform (HEP) to ensure that the different players in the sector are working towards a coordinated strategy. The Household Energy Platform (HEP) was launched in 2016. The clean cooking sector support programme support national alliances to build and implement sustainable organisation strategies and business plans, to lead the implementation of key sector priorities and to be a key advocate for clean cooking.The specific objectives of the Bangladesh project are:•	Improve effectiveness and develop capacity of the Household Energy Platform, the national coordinating body for the clean cooking sector.•	Development of the market for clean alternative cooking fuels sector such as briquettes and pellets.•	Establishment of national standards for cookstove and development of a national stove and fuel testing facilities.•	Engagement with other partners for development of the clean cooking sector in general.The HEP currently has more than 40 members from Government institutions, donor agencies, NGOs and private sector. The secretariat of HEP is a government organisation placed under the Ministry of Power. To strengthen the secretariat of HEP, capacity building support has been provided through a range of activities such as exchange visits and workshops. HEP has established 6 technical/advisory committees composed out of members of the HEP, coordinated by the secretariat and dealing with different topics. The Fuel and Standards & Testing sub-committees of HEP have worked on a series of activities regarding knowledge and business case development for alternative fuels such as pellets and briquettes. Furthermore, an assessment of national lab facilities for stove testing was conducted by an international consultant, which is expected to result in supply of essential lab equipment and specialised training to improve in country stove testing.*	GhanaIt is estimated that 80% of households rely on solid fuels for cooking in Ghana. The use of wood fuels impacts negatively on health, income and productive hours, while the use of inefficient stoves exposes households to problems of indoor air pollution and causes about 13,400 health related deaths in Ghana annually. It also leads to the destruction of ecosystems, high carbon emissions, environmental degradation, deforestation and loss of fertile agricultural lands.Investments in the clean cooking sector so far have led to little results due to a range of factors, such as:•	lack of access of clean cooking technologies•	high initial cost of improved cooking technologies•	poor dissemination of clean and sustainable energy technologies•	inadequate regulatory framework•	high tax regime on clean cooking products and materials•	inadequate financing schemes•	little public awareness on the health risks of traditional cooking methods.Before the start of the RVO project ‘Strategic Support to the Clean Cooking Sector in Ghana’ (November 2016), the Ghana Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GHACCO) already had promising potential to drive the clean cooking sector but lacked the capacity to deliver. There was no visibility with the relevant stakeholders within the sector, and the value proposition was insufficient. Also, there was no clear strategy and plan on how to facilitate/stimulate change in the sector.1)	Strengthening the Ghana Alliance for Clean Cookstoves & Fuels (GHACCO) Administration and Operations.2)	Diversifying GHACCO Membership and Scope.3)	Developing a Market Innovation Facility (to redefine GHACCO’s value proposition).The results so far put GHACCO on a path to become a National Clean Cooking Alliance that is led with a clear mandate, value proposition and strategic business plan. With the involvement of the charcoal sector, the Ghana LPG Operators Association, the Biogas Associations of Ghana and the nascent woodstove sector in GHACCO’s structure, there is now a much broader sector representation. The organisation’s sustained efforts on access to finance, a standards and labelling roadmap, business incubation and acceleration, strengthening of existing stove testing centres and developing an R&D roadmap for Ghana contribute to a strongly interlinked ecosystem of support services, partners and information to benefit GHACCO members and the sector as a whole.*	KenyaThe main project objective is to strengthen the organizational and institutional capacity of the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya for sustained representation of the sector interests. The project will also support the development of a joint sector strategy to strengthen coordination towards the achievement of universal access to clean cooking in Kenya by 2030.1)	Institutional & organisational strenthening of CCAK.2)	Increased sector coordination  (including sector status & update country action plan).The priorities identified include:•	Development of CCAK strategic and business plan, providing a clear road map for the association in its path towards sustainability. This will involve definition of CCAK value proposition to the sector and its members define the role of the working groups and linkage to other sector actors such as the clean cooking inter-ministerial committee.•	Sector update; undertaking a study to ascertain the current sector status focusing on the state of market and market segments, emerging trends and development scenarios including support to setting up a mechanism for regular updates. In lieu of the target to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030, there is need to understand the status in adoption and can track progress periodically, therefore a monitoring system with capacity to capture progress from several initiatives and therefore provide information on the path towards universal access will be developed.•	Update of the Kenya CAP; the CAP developed in 2012 needs to be updated. The last four years have seen many changes including entry of new players and changes in the market, this therefore calls for an update and identification of new sector priorities for the country.•	Contribute to further building and strengthening the Kenya evidence case for clean cooking solutions, integrating and communicating both local and global evidence to inform development and implementation of national strategies. Comprehensively make the case for health, economics, gender, sector bottlenecks and solutions thereof, to inform national and international policy and decision makers.Target groups:–	Clean cooking sector stakeholders.–	CCAK.–	Private sector (CCAK members).–	Public sector.*	UgandaIn spite of many alternative energy sources available in Uganda, there is heavy dependence on biomass, especially for cooking, due to its accessibility and affordability. Biomass is the main source of energy for approximately 90% of the population. This heavy reliance on biomass and the use of inefficient traditional stoves has caused rapid depletion of forests, leading to fuel scarcity and threatening the environment as well major health problems. A shift to improved and fuel efficient cooking methods is needed but there are still major barriers preventing the adoption of improved cooking technologies.These include:•	High quality improved cookstoves (ICS) cannot easily be identified in the market, since a high variety of different stoves is available, which are similar in appearance but vary significantly in terms of efficiency, safety and durability.•	Often end-users are not aware of the benefits of using an ICS, i.e. considerably reducing household spending, improving their health and conserving the environment.•	Lack of a proper distribution network: the production and distribution of ICS in Uganda is highly concentrated in Kampala and a few other major cities.•	Lack of innovation capacity among manufacturers and distributors of clean cooking technologies.•	Weak representation of the sector on national level. While some enterprises are organised in sector associations and platforms like BEETA, UNBA, UNACC etc, these are still not able to provide a comprehensive service portfolio of fully-fledged sector associations.Acknowledging these challenges, EnDev Uganda on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development Uganda (MEMD) is implementing a development programme for the Ugandan clean and efficient cooking sector. The programme consists of three strategic components running up to December 2018:1)	Clean and efficient cooking awareness creation.2)	Clean and efficient cooking innovation component.3)	Support to sector association (Uganda National Alliance on Clean Cooking, UNACC).At the start of the sector support programme in Uganda, there was a weak representation of the sector on a national level. While some enterprises were organised in sector associations and platforms like BEETA, UNBA, UNACC etc, these were not able to provide a comprehensive service portfolio of a fully-fledged sector association. The Uganda National Alliance on Clean Cooking (UNACC) is the umbrella association of the sector and considers itself as an implementing partner for all stakeholders that address the adoption of clean cooking solutions. UNACC received technical and financial support in order to strengthen the capacity of the secretariat for project steering and implementation towards the sustainable operation of the alliance. Capacity building activities included training in membership mobilisation, procurement training for members and contracting of experts to support with development of a sustainable strategic plan and resource mobilisation. The current support provided has contributed to a more stable coordination unit and a fully functional National Executive Committee (NEC), thus enabling the association to engage in long-term strategies. Further, activities focussed on the development of an awareness campaign that was recently launched, and the development and implementation of a support package for the private sector, which includes stove testing and training on marketing and distribution.