After malaria and AIDS, Nigeria's number one cause of death
is diseases associated with traditional cooking.
Activists say nearly 100,000 people die
yearly in Nigeria from what they call a "silent energy crisis."
Bola Abiola serves amala, a traditional Nigerian dish made
of yam flour while smoke billows from the nearby outdoor kitchen.
Like many Nigerian cooks, she does not know about the health
risks from the smoky wooden stoves that boil the amala, which activists are now
calling "killers" of both people and the environment.
But like many who cook with traditional stoves in Nigeria
she doesn’t feel there is any choice.
"If we use kerosene or charcoal it takes too much time
to cook the food and costs us a lot more money," she said. "Firewood
is best for us because it takes 30 minutes to cook something that could take an
hour and a half."
Activists say the wood smoke emits toxins, causing eye
problems, lung and heart diseases and increasing the risk of strokes.
Hamzat Lawal works for the International Centre for Energy,
Environment and Development in Nigeria, one of several organizations lobbying
for new policies that increase the supply- and demand- for safer stoves.
He says it has been difficult to get kerosene,
gas or energy-efficient wood stoves in the hands of the people - most of whom
cook on traditional wood stoves.
And he says, it’s not just the men and women who cook who
are in danger.
"Our mothers carry our younger ones on their
backs. And that smoke also affects
them. So, over time we get to lose some
of these children from the effects of the smoke," he said.
He says electrical stoves are not currently on the agenda
because most people in Nigeria don’t have access to electricity. Those that have power, have it sporadically -
sometimes only a few hours a day.
These men grill goat on the side of a street in the
outskirts of the capital. Dan Malik says
he spends all day standing over smoke from the wood fire. He says his eyes hurt and he expects other
problems later in life.
"I’m aware of the long-term effects but I have no other
options because I don’t have another business to turn to," he said.
Officials say traditional stoves in Nigeria are also
unsustainable, with deforestation rates already among the highest in the world.
Heather Murdock - VOA
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| Clean Cookstoves |
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