“By 2020, the energy sector will be the major engine of the nation’s sustainable social,
economic and industrial growth, delivering affordable and constant energy supply
efficiently to other sectors of the economy”
– Federal Government’s Vision 20: 2020
Several Nigerian families are climbing down the energy ladder. With the devaluation of the Naira, the prices of LPG and kerosene have soared and families are going back to firewood use. This is a big threat to the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cookstoves’ goal to introduce 10 million fuel efficient and clean cookstoves to Nigerian homes and institutions by 2020.
The Federal Government’s Vision 20: 2020 for the energy sector laid out plans for expanding access to modern energy services including cooking energy. One of the five strategic plans for the sector is to achieve energy supply security by utilizing the nation’s renewable energy resources (including wind, solar, hydro and biomass) to diversify the energy consumption mix.
These visions of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cookstoves are being undermined by the declining access to modern cooking energy services. The cost of LPG and cylinders have further gone up. Access to kerosene has also declined in recent times. Today, many families are climbing down the cooking energy ladder. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 72% of Nigerian households depend primarily on firewood for cooking.
The time to act is now. The Federal Government of Nigeria has over time developed policy documents that outline strategies for expanding access to modern cooking energy services. There is a need for review and holistic adoption and implementation of these policies.
