Empowering the Community, Preserving Biodiversity
At Empower Clean Cooking Uganda, we build a resilient, self-reliant community by addressing energy poverty, economic growth, and ecological conservation together. Located near Uganda’s unique Budongo Forest, our mission replaces short-term aid with long-term, sustainable impact.
Improving Lives & Protecting the Forest
Traditional woodfire and charcoal cooking create severe health hazards and drive deforestation in the fragile Budongo ecosystem.
The diagram shows how this cycle traps families in unsafe, expensive cooking while degrading the forest.
We are breaking this cycle by rolling out high‑efficiency, gasifying biomass pellet stoves that cut smoke, reduce fuel use and ease pressure on the forest.
Clean cooking isn’t just about a stove; it is the catalyst that protects the environment, restores health, creates jobs and fuels economic freedom for the entire Budongo community.
Designed through a gender lens, our approach lifts the physical and social burden off local women and girls. Replacing time-consuming wood collection with clean energy improves their safety, restores their well-being, and empowers them to thrive economically and socially.
Our Impact
Health & Dignity
Reducing respiratory issues by eliminating toxic smoke from traditional woodfires.
Forest Conservation
Ending charcoal and firewood dependency to protect the Budongo Forest and its biodiversity.
Economic Relief
Saving families money and time previously spent on expensive, inefficient fuels.
A Holistic Community Ecosystem
Our Budongo Project is an integrated ecosystem of economic, social, and industrial activities designed to uplift the region. Through our central Kigaragara Community Hub, we foster sustainable growth across several pillars:
Agro-Processing
Local milling facilities for maize and cassave supports rural farmers and food security.
Micro-Manufacturing
Local brick-making and school chalk production creates stable youth employment.
Education & Connectivity
Community library, internet, and workspace for local development.
Local Pellet Production
Production of biomass pellet from local sources waste for eco-friendly cooking supply.
Agro-Processing & Milling Facility
Our fully operational maize milling facility is a community-based solution designed to improve the lives of rural farmers in Kigaragara Village and the surrounding area.
By providing access to affordable and efficient agro-processing machinery close to home, farmers can process major staple crops like maize and cassava without heavy transport costs.
Equipped with advanced drying technology, the facility dramatically reduces post-harvest losses and shields crops from harmful agro-toxins. This component does more than safeguard food security, it creates stable, local jobs and equips community members with technical skills through dedicated mill operation training.
Supporting rural farmers, reducing post-harvest losses, and boosting local food security.
Improving Lives,
Protecting the Forest
Why replacing charcoal and firewood with advanced pellet stoves is our most urgent and impactful mission.
In the Budongo region, the traditional way of cooking has become an ecological and humanitarian crisis.
Traditional charcoal and open-fire cooking with firewood rely heavily on the illegal and destructive logging of the nearby Budongo Forest.
The crisis is visible every single day: local charcoal supply has collapsed due to scarcity, and women are restricted to entering the forest only on Saturday mornings to gather dry wood, a dangerous and exhausting chore that must sustain their households for an entire week.
To provide a lasting solution, we are currently preparing the setup of a pellet manufacturing facility. By processing locally sourced agricultural waste into clean pellets, we will establish a self-sustaining supply chain that protects the forest while supporting local farmers.
About us
Empower Clean Cooking Uganda (ECCU) is an initiative and joint venture between impact investor INQO Investments Ltd. and renewable energy developer East African Power (EAP), within INQO’s CARE initiative.
Together, with our partners we deploy scalable clean energy solutions to protect biodiversity and create sustainable economic opportunities.
