Cooking should not be a matter of death

Cooking is a positive thing. Many of us complain about the time it takes to go to the grocery store, sit in the traffic jam, and cook, but these issues pale in comparison to the real challenges that millions of women face around the world and right here in Kenya.

The reality is that the seemingly simple act of cooking a meal constitutes one of the most significant health and environmental challenges in the world today.

Most women in rural communities are up early in the morning as it takes them hours to find firewood. They then carry heavy loads back home to begin the long process of cooking over an open fire or traditional jiko.

While cooking they are exposed to harmful smoke and fumes. This prolonged exposure of up to several hours a day, every day, is responsible for the premature loss of four million lives every year from diseases associated with exposure to smoke and has gone unnoticed for far too long. Cooking is essential, but it should not be lethal.

The truth is that these are totally preventable deaths. We have the technology, the fuels, and the ability to ensure that no one has to cook the way our ancestors did. We also do not have to travel the world to find these more efficient and cleaner cooking solutions. They are all available right here in Kenya.

So why are we not getting these stoves and fuels to those who need them the most? The simple answer is that we have not made the public aware of the issue, its implications, and the fact that solutions exist.

We know the importance of empowering women. How can we say that we are doing that when we are not tackling the issue that is at the core of their lives — time spent collecting fuel and cooking.

TIME FACTOR

On average we know that women in rural areas spend approximately six to eight hours a day collecting fuel and cooking. More efficient and cleaner stoves can reduce that time by half, leaving many hours to spend educating their children or earning a livelihood for their families and contributing to the economic and social development of their communities.

Think of what healthier, more productive lives can do for Kenya. Think of what cleaner and more efficient stoves and fuels can do for forests and the environment. We may actually have a chance to truly reverse the deforestation that is devastating the country.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership led by the United Nations Foundation and consisting of over 900 organisations across six continents is focused on creating awareness about this issue, enhancing the technology and performance of cookstoves, increasing the availability of alternate fuels, strengthening enterprises so they can produce these stoves with consistent high quality, and market and distribute them.

The efforts aim to improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment. The organisation’s country action plan for Kenya targets five million households adopting clean and efficient stoves and fuels by the year 2020. This has the potential to make Kenya an even bigger leader in the clean cooking sector.

Like the great marathon runners of your country, Kenyans have trained for this moment through their experiences, expertise, and passion to innovate and save and improve lives and the environment. It is now time to go.

The writer is the executive director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves