Traditional food vendors, known locally as “chop bars,” along with school feeding caterers in Accra, will gain access to efficient and cleaner-burning LPG cookstoves through a new initiative spearheaded by Envirofit in October this year.
This social enterprise, known for its innovative smart energy solutions, plans to open a second production facility to manufacture these commercial LPG cookstoves.
Envirofit’s Chief Technology Officer, Nathan Lorenz, explained to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the initiative aims to lower fuel costs for food vendors, reduce their reliance on charcoal, and improve overall worker health. A pilot project preceding this larger rollout indicated a high level of interest among food vendors in switching to these improved cookstoves.
“The chop bar operators are waiting to switch to the new technology. We are seeing fuel energy budget of food vendor reducing between 40 to 60 percent. It is clean, fast, healthy and convenient,” he said.
“Ghana is not the only market of our focus but other West African countries. We are recruiting highly skilled artisans from in country at our factory for production and after sales service.”
Envirofit Ghana Limited’s General Manager, Emmanuel Osae-Nyarko, highlighted that the majority of food vendors currently use wood-based stoves. The transition to LPG cookstoves is expected to significantly enhance their operations by reducing fuel costs, cutting down cooking time, and enabling them to serve their customers more efficiently.
Osae-Nyarko also pointed out that this initiative aligns with Ghana’s broader environmental goals, contributing to global efforts in ecosystem conservation, restoration, and sustainable use. Additionally, the project is expected to create jobs for young people across various sectors, including manufacturing, marketing, and capacity building.
One of the vendors who participated in the pilot project, Janet Sesi, praised the new cookstove for its time-saving benefits.
She also noted an improvement in the sanitary conditions at her chop bar due to the use of the cleaner cookstove.
As part of its climate mitigation strategy under Article 6.2, Ghana is working to generate demand for 24 million tonnes of carbon.
Since 2020, the country has signed cooperative agreements with Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, and South Korea to mobilize sustainable financing for its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) programs.
The clean cooking initiative is one of 54 projects in various stages of development, with the potential to attract over $850 million in funding.