When Caroline was approached by agents of Carbonibus, a carbon offsetting project at a local school where she teaches in New Kru Town, Bushrod Island, the mother of two was reluctant to buy a new stove. Her traditional Liberian cookpot was still functioning, so getting a new stove was an option.
However, a friend eventually convinced her, and she decided to purchase one for US$20, agreeing to be paid over two months.
“I was scared to take it,” she admitted.
After months of use, she says she wishes she had made the switch long ago. Now, she relies exclusively on the clean cookstove. “It produces less smoke, more heat, and fewer ashes, and it cooks food faster,” Caroline says.
The country’s forests are disappearing as a result of charcoal production, which many women rely on for cooking using traditional cookpots, open fire, and “three-stone” methods. This practice exacerbates climate change, flooding, and air pollution. According to environmental experts and the United Nations, transitioning to cleaner cookstoves is crucial for both the country’s public health and its environment.
Clean cookstove projects aim to protect the country’s rainforests and mangrove ecosystems—areas identified as critical for conservation. Furthermore, traditional cookpots are often used in confined areas with little ventilation, exposing families to diseases such as asthma, lung disease, pneumonia, and cancer. Clean cookstoves offer an alternative for Caroline and other women to escape the health risks of inhaling smoke. Carbonibus, a private carbon offset project, offers imported cookstoves that sell for less. Backed by carbon offsetting subsidies. Around one-third of the world’s population, or 2.3 billion people, live without access to safe methods of “clean” cooking, according to the International Energy Agency.
Rozetta Pajepo, who lives in Paynesville, has been using the stove for about five years. It was purchased by her father. She notes that it has become a staple in their household.
“For my personal experience, I will say this stove is very good,” Pajepo shared. She highlighted several practical benefits, noting that it is far more efficient than traditional Liberian cooking methods. According to her, a single small bag of charcoal is enough to cook an entire meal of rice—a significant reduction in fuel consumption compared to standard pots. She also praised the design for its cleanliness and portability: “It has a space where the ashes collect so it doesn’t dirty the place. It’s comfortable, easy to carry, and can be used both inside and outside the house.”Regarding smoke, she said that while it can occur, it usually depends on the materials used to light the fire rather than the stove itself.
Carbonibus aims to use climate finance from international groups to replace inefficient open fires with “clean versions, reducing the wood and charcoal needed for daily cooking. The project began operations in 2023 with a distribution ramp-up, peaking at 150,000 units in 2025 before leveling off to 100,000 units in 2026 and 2027.
In an email, Kate Bakal, co-founder and head of programs for Carbonibus in Liberia, said these figures represent projected maximum distribution levels used for carbon impact modeling and long-term planning. However, she notes they should not be interpreted as actual annual sales figures. In practice, distribution happens gradually and depends on demand, logistics, financing, and operational capacity.
“Since the program started in 2023, we have reached over 10,000 households and continue to scale step-by-step across Liberia,” Bakal added.
Carbonibus employs a varied logistical strategy, using trucks for bulk deliveries and lighter logistics for smaller batches in areas with limited access. Bakal emphasizes that the objective is to maintain a reasonable transportation cost per stove while ensuring transparency and reliability.
While Caroline and Pajepo in Monrovia have gained access to these stoves, women in rural Bong County have yet to see any modern stoves or Carbonibus products. Instead, they still use open fires and three-stone spaces, though they remain eager to change.
Bakal admits that reaching remote areas is one of the venture’s biggest logistical challenges, citing poor road conditions and high transportation costs.
“To address this, we work through local partners and community organizations that help coordinate stove demonstrations and deliveries,” she explained. “Our team travels to communities where there is confirmed demand… this approach helps ensure that households understand the technology and are able to adopt it successfully.”
To date, nine counties have been reached. “But there is still more work to be done in reaching more remote communities and expanding beyond our current operations,” said Bakal.
Clean cookstove expansion faces significant financial hurdles. Most stoves are imported, and the few local producers, such as Green Gold Liberia, also face obstacles related to cost and awareness. While carbon offsetting projects use credits paid by polluters to lower prices, the stoves may still be out of reach for many.
Caroline noted that two of her neighbors wanted the stoves but complained about the price. “When they asked me how I bought it and I said US$20, they said it was too much,” she said
According to census data, 52% of Liberian households still rely on charcoal, while 45% rely on firewood as their primary cooking fuel.
In 2015, Liberia and its partners developed the Rural Energy Strategy Master Plan, aiming to provide clean cookstoves, solar lamps, and efficient appliances to rural inhabitants by 2030. The plan calls for the decentralization of electricity, targeting a 35% access rate outside Monrovia by 2030.
However, progress is difficult to measure. Samuel Nagbe, Executive Director of the Rural Renewable Energy Agency (RREA), acknowledges a lack of data. “The limited availability of reliable data remains a challenge for tracking the full access of clean cooking,” he said. He further noted that while frameworks like the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development aim to increase access, none currently set a clear target for achieving universal clean cooking by 2030.
One of the biggest hurdles is cultural: convincing Liberians to switch from generations of traditional cookpot use. Bakal notes that households often need to see the product in action and hear feedback from neighbors before making a purchase.
“Awareness grows gradually, and visibility improves fastest in places where households can directly observe the fuel savings and cooking speed from someone they know,” Bakal said.
The charcoal sector remains one of Liberia’s most active industries. A 2019 World Bank report stated that about 337,000 tons of charcoal—worth US$46 million—was sold in 2018, employing 28,000 people.
While Liberia signed the Paris Agreement and pledged to reverse forest loss by 2030, experts argue the government has done little in the years since. Immediate change, they say, requires the mass distribution of cookstoves.
Liberia joined the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Tanzania, aiming to expand electricity access to 100,000 households annually and mobilize US$80–100 million for clean cooking and decentralized renewable energy. Charles Umehai, Deputy Minister for Energy at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, confirmed that the ministry is currently drafting a formal clean cooking policy, which will undergo stakeholder validation before being finalized.
Despite her positive experience, Pajepo believes there is a significant gap in public awareness. She observed that she rarely sees the stoves in other homes and suggested that Carbonibus needs to expand its reach. “I feel like they have a lot of marketing to do,” she noted. “A lot of people don’t know about this cookstove. Their marketing has not gone really far—probably they might just be in Monrovia.”
