On- and Off-(Micro)Grid PV Electric Cooking: Generating Field Data Towards Integrated Energy Access in South Sudan

In South Sudan, over 99% of households utilize traditional charcoal and wood fuels for cooking and the vast majority of cooking is on indoor unvented and unimproved cookstoves or over open flames. This results in high levels of household air pollution (HAP), which can lead to serious respiratory illness and death, especially for women and young children (over 4400 HAP related deaths of children under 5 in South Sudan in 2016). Traditional cooking also perpetuates gender inequalities by placing extreme time and physical burden on women diminishing quality of life and opportunities for education and income. Socioeconomic impacts are also seen from fuel expenses which can limit available income for other expenses like education and food. Finally, these fuels can also lead to significant environmental impacts from land degradation and climate change. All of this heightens the vulnerability of developing communities and exacerbates the humanitarian and development challenges they face.