EnDev Nepal organized a workshop on “Promoting Electric Cooking in Nepal: Roles, Responsibilities, Opportunities, and Prospects" on 9th August 2022. The main objective of the workshop was to achieve the goal of furthering electric cooking by bringing together all the relevant stakeholders, experience sharing, and discovering synergies in common initiatives in line with the stated Government of Nepal's policies.
The focus of the discussion was centered around the key challenges and prospects for electric cooking and understanding the present socio-economic, gender equality, and social inclusion (GESI) aspects and environmental context of electric cooking in Nepal.
Various actors from government, private sector, GESI/Energy experts, civil societies, research institutions/academia, development partners, and media were invited to map the stakeholder terrain together with their strengths and weaknesses. Also, prospects for collaboration between stakeholders on promotional campaigns and other implementation plans were shared.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Energy Water Resources and Irrigation, Alternate Energy Promotion Center, Nepal Electricity Authority, and Clean Cooking Alliance shed light on their various targets and plans for promoting electric cooking in Nepal. Hence, this provided a good platform for all the relevant stakeholders to coordinate and minimize duplication of work in the future.
This workshop also identified barriers from users' and retailers' perspectives in adopting this technology and developing a sustainable market. From current pricing to operating concerns to re-training cooking skills, electrical safety etc were also highlighted.
The supply chain strengths and weaknesses of each link in the chain from import to distribution, repair, and maintenance to recycling of electronic waste disposal were also identified in terms of the present context.
The workshop concluded with the identification of key opportunities in terms of different factors in developing the value chain of the electric cooking market and barriers in terms of quality assurance and awareness for scaling up electric cooking within a sustainable ecosystem
