The Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, has said more than 90,000 Nigerian women and children die annually from firewood smoke.
She disclose this in Abuja during the 2021 Nigeria Clean Cooking Forum with the theme: “Clean Cooking Energy for All in Nigeria – Achieving the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)” targets on Clean Cooking.
Ikeazor said that over 70% of Nigeria’s population relies solely on fuel wood in meeting their energy needs for cooking and heating.
“If current policies are allowed to continue; by 2030, 60% or more of all households in Nigeria will still be cooking with traditional biomass. Dependency on biomass for cooking and or heating purposes increases pressure on local natural resources.
Ikeazor stressed that it poses threat to the health and safety of end-users, mainly women often accompanied by their children.
“Nigeria’s residential sector contributes over 50% of national total emissions of Green House Gases. The use of cleaner, more modern cookstoves and fuels can dramatically reduce exposure to harmful smoke thereby improving the health of rural women, creating wealth, provide myriad economic opportunities for Nigerians and has important Environmental and climate benefits.
She noted that deforestation equivalent of 5.4Mt of CO2 (GFW) resulting from unsustainable wood harvesting, thereby reducing carbon uptake by forest.
According to her, the Ministry have supported the implementation of programmes on clean cooking to help the nation reduce its GHG emissions and also boost green growth.
The Federal government is striving to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) obligations by ensuring that Nigerian households convert from the use of inefficient cooking fuels such as fuelwood, charcoal and kerosene to LPG and other efficient cooking fuels.
