Public finance must boost demand for improved and ‘cleaner’ cookstoves by addressing the affordability gap in the poorest households —through price subsidies, concessional end-user financing, and other means. And it must increase supply to expand distribution channels — for example through grants, concessional finance, guarantee instruments, and patient capital to enterprises.

This policy briefing offers a snapshot of the clean cookstove markets in Malawi and Zimbabwe, and highlights finance mechanisms and policy changes that could help boost these markets.

Stoking finance for affordable cookstoves: Experience from Malawi and Zimbabwe