Lighting
Despite commendable progress in electricity access at the national level, Marsabit County continues to face substantial energy access challenges. The county remains predominantly off-grid, with the exception of Moyale Town, which is connected to the Ethiopian power grid.
Findings from the 2025 household energy survey indicate that only 42.1% of households in Marsabit County have access to electricity—nearly half the national average. Access is notably higher in urban areas (60.4%) compared to rural areas (24.3%), highlighting persistent spatial disparities in electrification.
Among electrified households, approximately 86% are served by Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) mini-grids located in Moyale (60 kW), Laisamis (60 kW), and North Horr (60 kW). The remaining 14% rely on standalone, off-grid systems, primarily composed of solar home systems and rechargeable battery units, underscoring the growing importance of decentralized energy solutions in bridging the access gap.
Household Access to Electricity Supply | Household Urban Electricity Access |
Supply-off grid sources |
Households in Marsabit County primarily use dry cell torches and solar lanterns for lighting. Solar lanterns are more commonly used in urban areas, alongside other notable lighting technologies such as rechargeable flashlights and solar-powered flashlights, as shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9 below.
Cooking
Like many rural counties in Kenya, most households in Marsabit County continue to rely on unclean energy sources such as kerosene, firewood, and agricultural residue for cooking.
According to the 2025 household energy survey conducted in Marsabit County, 86.3% of households reported using firewood as their primary cooking fuel, followed by charcoal at 8.3% and LPG at 4.9%. Firewood remains the dominant energy source, especially in rural areas where 90.8% of households rely on it, compared to 80.7% in urban areas. Charcoal ranks as the second most used cooking fuel, with its usage more prevalent in urban settings. Additionally, 46.8% of households—particularly more than half of those in rural areas—reported not using any secondary fuel, underscoring the limited adoption of fuel stacking practices within the county.
The statistics below indicate that firewood is the predominant cooking fuel across all sub-counties, with the highest usage in North Horr (98.5%) and the lowest in Saku (82.9%). Charcoal is the second most common fuel, particularly in Saku (12.1%) and Moyale (5.6%). The use of cleaner fuels like LPG is minimal across the sub-counties.
In both rural and urban areas of Marsabit County, households primarily depend on firewood for cooking, with most collecting it themselves. On average, rural households spend 9.7 hours per week collecting firewood, while urban households spend slightly more time—approximately 10 hours weekly.
Notably, households in Marsabit South spend 3.6 times more time collecting firewood compared to the average rural household.
Firewood collection is a gendered activity, with 87.7% of households reporting that the wife is responsible for gathering firewood, followed by girls at 7.1%. The firewood is typically carried on the head or back, although some households use bicycles or pack animals such as donkeys. Firewood remains largely accessible year-round, with 81.8% of households indicating consistent availability throughout the seasons.
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