Concerned Nigerians and other development partners have expressed grave concerns over dangers associated with the use of traditional fire cooking which reportedly caused 78,000 deaths on an annual basis across the country.
The stakeholders including policymakers, private sector players, researchers, and civil society Organisations (CSOs) expressed their concern via a report issued at the end of the one-day stakeholders’ dialogue and presentation of findings on clean cooking which took place in Abuja, organized by International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED), in partnership with Heinrich Böell Stiftung (HBS) Nigeria.
While noting that: “Nigeria faces a household energy crisis. approximately 127 million people and more than 24 million families cook inefficiently with open fires in Nigeria. Only one in 10 households in Nigeria cook with clean energy sources and technologies such as electricity, LPG, or improved biomass stoves.
“Traditional open fire cooking is a silent killer – causing over 78,000 deaths in Nigeria annually. It places a financial burden on some of Nigeria’s poorest families, denying them money that could be spent on education, health and other important household needs.
“Cooking with firewood in open fire also contributes to the loss of nearly 400,000 hectares of forests annually, while emissions from residential cooking represent about 55 million metric tonnes of CO2e and about 700,000 metric tonnes of harmful PM2.5 emissions.
“This constitutes a significant proportion of Nigeria’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and its abatement represents a key national strategy in meeting the commitment to the Paris climate change agreement.
“Adopting clean cooking solutions in Nigeria is crucial for improving health outcomes, reducing environmental impact, and promoting sustainable development goals (SDGs). Clean cooking technologies have the potential to simultaneously contribute to 10 of the 17 SDGs, demonstrating their multifaceted benefits and far-reaching impact
“Over the past four years, the Heinrich Böell Stiftung (HBS) Nigeria has been collaborating with the International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development (ICEED) to spearhead policy advocacy, public discussions and multi-stakeholder capacity building initiatives aimed at expanding access to clean cooking in Nigeria.
“This collaboration has yielded substantial achievements in influencing national policy discourse and institutional frameworks. Notable accomplishments include the incorporation of clean cooking expansion into Nigeria’s revised National Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement in 2021; the approval and launch of a National Clean Cooking Policy; the establishment of a National Clean Cooking Committee and of the Clean Cooking Unit at the Federal Ministry of Environment among others.
“While Nigeria has made remarkable achievements to provide the enabling environment for the growth of the clean cooking sector, the country is yet to experience a significant increase in the deployment and adoption of clean and efficient cooking stoves/fuels.
“To this end, ICEED recently undertook a study to understand the challenges and institutional barriers impeding the faster adoption of clean cooking solutions in Nigeria knowing that the development of an implementation plan for the clean cooking policy is underway.
“The study investigated the factors impeding the adoption of efficient cookstoves in Nigeria, utilising evidence gathered from interviews with key stakeholders across the public, private, and social sectors involved in the clean cooking industry, as well as with stove users.
“ICEED further compiled detailed case studies of some of the successful clean cooking businesses and enterprises. It is hoped that the study will provide valuable insights into replicable approaches for scaling up clean cooking solutions by relevant sector private sector players and decision-makers.
“This stakeholders’ dialogue aims to present the findings of the studies and get further input from a wider audience which will feed into the implementation plan for the National Clean Cooking Policy currently being developed.”
Speaking during the event, ICEED’s Research and Partnership Manager and Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking, emphasized the critical importance of clean cooking for Nigeria’s energy, health, and environmental goals.
“Clean cooking is a priority area in energy access, central to achieving Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, and the Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Over the past four years, our collaboration with HBS has driven policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and capacity-building efforts that have yielded significant achievements.
“Yet, we still face challenges in scaling adoption, which is why we are here today to present our findings and chart the way forward,” she said.
On her part, Director of Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Iniobong Abiola-Awe, highlighted government’s commitment to achieving universal access to clean cooking by 2030.
She applauded the recent approval of the National Clean Cooking Policy in March 2024 as a bold step toward addressing environmental and public health challenges.
“The Ministry remains committed to fostering partnerships, mobilizing investments, and promoting innovative technologies for clean cooking.
“We call on stakeholders to take actionable steps that align with the National Clean Cooking Policy’s implementation plan currently being developed.”
During the event, ICEED presented the outcomes of its recent study on challenges and institutional barriers impeding clean cooking adoption in Nigeria.
According to Unico Kalu, Lead Consultant for the study, over 90% of Nigerians lack access to clean cooking fuels, leading to dire health, environmental, and economic consequences.
The study also spotlighted successful Nigerian clean cooking businesses that are driving innovation. These enterprises have empowered over 200,000 women, created 50,000 jobs, and sequestered 900 metric tonnes of CO2.
Also speaking, Lecturer and Consultant at the University of Ibadan, Dr. Deborah Ayodele-Olajire who presented policy recommendations, stressed that people will pioneer this clean cooking, the importance of localized solutions and government incentives such as tax waivers for clean cooking equipment and fuels.
Stakeholders unanimously agreed that achieving universal access to clean cooking by 2030 requires collaborative efforts among the government, the private sector, and civil society. Proposed measures included expanding energy financing programs, strengthening the supply chain for clean cooking technologies, and enhancing public awareness campaigns.
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