Through the Zanzibar Joint Programme, UNCDF is empowering schools and communities in Zanzibar with electric pressure cookers and other technologies, improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, and creating healthier kitchens for students and staff. Photo: UNCDF.

How cleaner cooking technologies and media engagement are reshaping perceptions in schools and communities

In Zanzibar, for years, many students began the school day long before the first lesson. Alongside their exercise books and pens, these students were expected to carry firewood from home to help prepare school meals. For children from low-income families, this often meant waking up early or walking long distances to collect firewood, losing valuable study time and arriving at school already exhausted.

Dependence on firewood exposed students and staff to smoke-filled environments, contributed to deforestation, and created operational challenges. Schools faced growing pressure to secure sufficient fuel to prepare hundreds of meals each day using traditional cooking methods.

Today, this reality is beginning to change across Zanzibar’s public institutions. Clean cooking solutions help schools transition to safer, cleaner and more efficient lower-smoke alternatives to firewood. This shift is not only changing how meals are prepared but also improving the overall learning environment for students.

Launched in 2026 under the UN Zanzibar Joint Programme, the initiative is already benefiting more than 2,000 students across four schools. These institutions are gaining access to cleaner cooking technologies such as briquettes, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and electric pressure cookers.

In Zanzibar, the transition to clean cooking is also helping to shape perceptions of what clean cooking is, who it serves, and why it matters. For years, clean cooking has often been framed as a household issue. In schools across Zanzibar, however, it is increasingly being understood as an issue of education, health, and dignity, thanks in part to deliberate efforts to engage the media as a driver of change.

The experience highlights an important reality: while clean cooking technologies matter, wider adoption also depends on changing perceptions and behaviors, not only on installing new equipment.

Recognizing the importance of shaping public understanding, the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, in collaboration with partners including the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) through the United Nations Zanzibar Joint Programme, has placed strategic emphasis on engaging journalists to better understand the impact of clean cooking and help shape public discourse. Complementing these efforts, UNCDF has provided funding support for the installation of clean cooking stoves in schools.

During a recent visit to Kiyongwe Primary School, journalists witnessed firsthand how cleaner cooking technologies are reducing the need for students to bring firewood, reducing smoke in school kitchens and improving the efficiency of meal preparation, creating healthier school environments.

"For years, our children carried bundles of firewood to school, often arriving exhausted before lessons even began," said Mr. Abas Rajab, Headmaster of Kiyongwe Primary School. "Now, with briquettes and electric pressure cookers, students can focus on their studies instead of worrying about firewood. It has improved the health of our cooks and teachers, and restored dignity to the learning environment.”

For several journalists, the visit offered a new perspective.

“Before this, I mostly thought of clean cooking as something that affects households,” said Amina Adam Chamilunda, Journalist, Star TV. “Seeing what it means for schools, how it affects learning, health, and equality has completely changed the way I think about the story. It’s not just an energy issue; it’s about children’s futures.”

Electric pressure cookers have helped reduce cooking time and energy use in grid‑connected schools, while briquette stoves provide a cleaner alternative to firewood in areas where electricity access remains limited. Together, these solutions show that clean cooking can be adapted to different institutional contexts across Zanzibar.

"This is more than an energy story. It is an education story. When students are no longer worried about bringing firewood to school, they can focus on learning and achieving their dreams. Clean cooking restores dignity and creates a better learning environment.” said Raya Hamad, Senior Communications Officer, First Vice-President’s Office.

Local journalists observing the operation of an electric pressure cooker at Kiyongwe Primary School. Photo: UNCDF.

Beyond showcasing the technology, the engagement aims to help shape how clean cooking is understood and communicated more broadly. By giving journalists real-life examples, the initiative encourages reporting that presents clean cooking as a social and development priority.

“As journalists, we help shape what people care about,” said Aziza Hassan Ali, Journalist, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). “Seeing the impact in schools has changed how I think about this issue and how I will report on it. Clean cooking is about dignity and opportunity, and that story needs to be told.”

As Zanzibar advances its clean cooking agenda, the benefits extend far beyond the kitchen. Schools are beginning to reduce fuel costs, improve meal preparation, create healthier working conditions for cooks, and contribute to environmental conservation. Most importantly, students can devote their time and energy to what matters most :learning.

The transition from firewood to clean cooking represents more than a technological upgrade. It is a shift in mindset, a commitment to protecting the environment, and an investment in the future of Zanzibar’s children. A generation that once helped fuel school kitchens with bundles of firewood can now look forward to a future powered by cleaner energy, healthier schools, and greater opportunities to learn and thrive.

Zanzibar’s experience also shows that lasting change is not driven by technology alone. It depends on how people understand and value that change. As journalists and storytellers help reframe clean cooking as an issue of education, dignity, and opportunity, they play a critical role in shaping public perception and supporting wider adoption.