FORMER Second Lady of Ghana, Mrs Samira Bawumia, has called for increased investment in clean cooking solutions, stating that reliance on traditional cooking methods has the potential to cause environmental degradation and gender inequalities across Africa.
She said the effects of traditional cooking practices went beyond household energy consumption, with women and girls bearing the brunt through exposure to harmful smoke, time spent collecting firewood and the demands of preparing meals.
Speaking as a panellist at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, on Tuesday, she said clean cooking should be treated as a major development priority rather than an isolated environmental intervention.
According to her, women in Africa spend an estimated 80 hours a week cooking, time that could otherwise be devoted to education, economic activities and other productive pursuits.
“The time it takes to collect firewood, to travel and to prepare meals takes a toll on girls and women. It affects their education,” she said.
Mrs Bawumia, who is also the Global Ambassador and Global Champion of Clean Cooking, noted that the disproportionate responsibility women bear for household cooking made the transition to cleaner cooking technologies an important gender equality and empowerment issue.
She said clean cooking was also closely connected to several development priorities, including food security, public health, energy transition and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She argued that cooking should be integrated into broader food systems and energy policies because access to nutritious food and sustainable energy depended partly on how food was prepared.
“Anytime you talk about food systems, you have to talk about cooking. Anytime you talk about energy transition, you have to talk about clean cooking. Anytime you talk about women’s empowerment, you have to talk about clean cooking,” she stressed.
Touching on the environmental implications, she said the continued use of firewood and other traditional fuels was contributing to deforestation, particularly where economic trees were being felled to meet household energy needs.
She observed that in Ghana and other African countries, a significant proportion of wood used for cooking was sourced unsustainably, creating additional pressure on forest resources and undermining environmental protection efforts.
“This is a climate issue. In Ghana, for instance, and other African countries, most of the wood that is used for cooking is not sustainable. We are felling economic trees for firewood,” she lamented.
Mrs Bawumia called for stronger political commitment and increased financing to accelerate the adoption of clean cooking technologies across the continent.
Citing estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), she said Africa would require about US$4 billion annually to transition to clean cooking solutions by 2030.
She urged governments, development partners and private-sector institutions to prioritise investments in technologies that could address the health, environmental and economic consequences of traditional cooking practices.
She also commended Ghana for making progress in advancing its clean cooking agenda, noting that the country had adopted national standards for clean cookstoves and solutions and was developing a national clean cooking strategy and investment prospectus.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, ANTALYA, TÜRKİYE (COURTESY OF JOSPONG GROUP)
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