The Importance of
Clean and Modern Energy
for Cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa
Impact of Traditional Cooking Methods:
In sub-Saharan Africa, 900 million people cook with firewood, charcoal, and kerosene. The negative impacts include deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, health effects from indoor air pollution, economic impacts, and gender inequality.
- Deforestation: an estimated 52% loss of forests in Africa is due to firewood and charcoal production.
- Greenhouse gas emissions: 20-45% of Africa’s GHG emissions are due to traditional cooking methods.
- Health impacts from indoor air pollution: 600,000 people die prematurely each year in sub-Saharan Africa from pneumonia, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, and lung cancer; this is more premature deaths than malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis combined.
- Economic impacts: households continue to rely on increasingly scarce, expensive, unhealthy, and inconvenient fuels which in some cases account for up to 40% of their total expenditures.
- Gender inequality: women are responsible for procuring firewood, which can take up to 6 hours per day in some areas.
- Deforestation: an estimated 52% loss of forests in Africa is due to firewood and charcoal production.
- Greenhouse gas emissions: 20-45% of Africa’s GHG emissions are due to traditional cooking methods.
- Health impacts from indoor air pollution: 600,000 people die prematurely each year in sub-Saharan Africa from pneumonia, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, and lung cancer; this is more premature deaths than malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis combined.
« Changing the way families cook their food each day will slow climate change, drive gender equality, reduce poverty, and provide enormous health benefits. » - Wanjira Mathai (2021)
