Solar Cookers International sets out a 2026 strategy for clean cooking at scale

Editorial Team SDG7
21 hours ago
3 min read

Clean cooking is increasingly recognised as one of the most practical, high impact interventions in energy poverty, because it touches climate emissions, public health and household finances at the same time. Solar Cookers International’s 2026 strategic direction is being framed as a milestone, not because solar cooking is new, but because the organisation is treating it as infrastructure, something that must work reliably, be locally supported and withstand scrutiny on performance.

The stakes remain large. Around 2.3 billion people still cook with polluting fuels and technologies, a dependency that locks many communities into smoke exposure and rising fuel costs, while accelerating forest loss in places where wood is the default energy source.

Three pillars behind the 2026 plan

Distribution that prioritises sustained use in sub-Saharan Africa

The strategy emphasises deeper delivery in sub-Saharan Africa through partnerships that can keep programmes running after the first shipment of equipment. In practice, that means more attention to training, follow up and the practical realities of cooking routines, rather than measuring success by units delivered. The approach aligns with the organisation’s broader planning cycle, which positions solar cooking as a pathway to better health, livelihoods and environmental outcomes in vulnerable communities.

Technological efficiency that reduces weather dependence

Solar cooking’s credibility depends on reliability. The plan therefore leans into higher performance devices, including vacuum tube designs and solar electric hybrids that can extend cooking hours and reach higher temperatures. This technical push is paired with stronger evaluation methods, intended to make performance claims comparable across cooker types and settings, a key step for funders and local implementers.

Local empowerment built around skills and standards

The strategy puts training at its core, aiming to equip local NGOs, technicians and students to lead adoption within their own communities. By expanding the use of performance ratings and transparent testing results, the organisation is trying to shift solar cooking from being donated technology to being understood technology, maintained locally and selected based on evidence.

Why this matters for health and the environment

The public health argument remains central. Cleaner cooking reduces household air pollution, which is closely associated with respiratory illness, with women and children often facing the highest exposure in many settings. The environmental case is equally direct: replacing wood and charcoal reduces pressure on local forests and cuts emissions tied to combustion.

A short link can be made to SDG 7, which focuses on access to affordable and clean energy, because solar cooking offers a non polluting route to household heat where electrification or modern fuels remain out of reach.

Investment context and alliances are shifting the landscape

Solar cooking is not competing in a vacuum. It sits inside a wider clean cooking movement that has become more politically visible and better funded. A second major clean cooking summit is scheduled for 2026 in Nairobi, with organisers highlighting an ambition to accelerate access for one billion people across Africa who still lack clean cooking.

The funding signal is already clear. At the 2024 summit in Paris, pledges of about $2.2bn were mobilised, reflecting growing acceptance that cooking is not merely a household issue, but a development and climate lever that has been underfinanced for decades.

Meanwhile, market forecasts for solar cookers vary widely by methodology, but they generally point towards growth, with some industry estimates placing the sector in the mid hundreds of millions of dollars by the second half of the decade. This matters less as a headline figure and more as evidence that procurement, standards and policy support are moving solar cooking closer to the mainstream of clean cooking solutions.

What success would look like by the end of 2026

If the 2026 strategy achieves its intent, the most meaningful change will not be a publicity milestone but an operational one: higher adoption rates over time, devices that perform consistently across conditions, and local systems capable of training users, maintaining equipment and choosing technologies based on credible performance data. Solar cooking’s next chapter, as set out here, is less about persuasion and more about proof.