The ‘Phikani Moganizira Chilengedwe’ project is a pilot project aimed at promoting the use of alternative clean cooking to reduce charcoal production, contribute to forest landscape restoration, and reduce the impact of climate change. The project is being implemented by Community Energy Malawi, 265 Energy Limited, and Eco-Gen in partnership with UNDP and the Japanese Government. The project will run for three months and will cost K348 million.
The project will be piloted in Lilongwe and Zomba districts, and it is anticipated that about 2,700 households will adopt and use alternative cooking technologies of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, biogas, and clean cook stoves. The project aims to accelerate the delivery of scaling Nationally Determined Contributions Actions Project, access to clean and affordable energy, and climate resilience in Malawi.
The statistics on dependency on illegal charcoal in Lilongwe and Zomba City stand at 74 percent and 67 percent, respectively, and the project is set to influence change in these hotspots driving out unsustainable charcoal business as well as decimation of Zomba Plateau and Dzalanyama Forest Reserve.