Nigeria’s commitment to climate action has become increasingly visible in recent months. From the launch of emerging carbon market initiatives to the successful hosting of the Nigeria Youth Climate Change Summit by the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), there is growing momentum around environmental sustainability. On World Environment Day, federal and state governments also encouraged citizens to plant trees and take greater responsibility for protecting the environment.
These efforts deserve recognition. However, while policymakers and stakeholders celebrate climate commitments, a growing challenge is quietly unfolding in millions of Nigerian homes. The challenge is the rising cost of clean cooking in Nigeria.
The Numbers Behind Nigeria’s Clean Cooking Challenge
The statistics reveal a worrying reality – Nigeria exported more than ₦772 billion worth of wood and charcoal products between 2020 and 2025. In 2025 alone, over ₦243 billion worth of wood and charcoal products were exported within the first nine months of the year
At the same time, Nigeria remains one of the world’s largest producers of wood fuel and charcoal, with annual production estimated at more than 4.2 million tonnes. Even more concerning is that over 70 percent of Nigerian households still depend on firewood and charcoal for cooking.
These figures highlight a major obstacle to achieving widespread clean cooking in Nigeria and raise concerns about the country’s ability to meet its climate and development goals.
Rising LPG Prices Are Reversing Progress
For years, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was promoted as a cleaner and healthier alternative to traditional cooking fuels. Significant investments by government agencies, development partners, and private-sector actors helped encourage households to transition away from firewood and charcoal. Today, that progress is under threat.
Earlier this year, a kilogram of cooking gas sold for approximately ₦1,200. At the time, many Nigerians considered the price excessive. Today, that same kilogram costs as much as ₦2,000 in several parts of the country.
For households already burdened by rising food prices, transportation costs, and broader economic pressures, cooking gas has become increasingly unaffordable. As a result, many families are abandoning LPG and returning to traditional cooking fuels.
Households Are Returning to Firewood and Charcoal
Across urban centres, peri-urban communities, and rural areas, reports continue to emerge of households reverting to firewood and charcoal use. While many families understand the health and environmental risks associated with these fuels, affordability has become the deciding factor.
For many Nigerians, the choice is no longer between clean and dirty energy. It is simply about what they can afford.
Why Clean Cooking in Nigeria Matters for Climate Action
The growing shift away from LPG has consequences that extend far beyond household kitchens. These consequences includes the following:
Increased Pressure on Forests and Biodiversity
As demand for firewood and charcoal increases, so does pressure on Nigeria’s forests. Unsustainable harvesting contributes to deforestation, land degradation, and biodiversity loss, undermining efforts to build climate resilience.
Greater Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The widespread use of traditional biomass fuels releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases and black carbon into the atmosphere. This directly contradicts efforts to reduce emissions and achieve Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
Serious Public Health Implications
Women and children remain the primary users of household cooking energy in Nigeria. Exposure to smoke from firewood and charcoal significantly increases the risk of respiratory diseases, eye conditions, cardiovascular complications, and other health problems linked to household air pollution.
The clean cooking transition is therefore not only an environmental issue but also a critical public health priority.
Climate Change Is Already Affecting Nigerian Communities
The urgency of promoting clean cooking in Nigeria becomes even clearer when viewed against the backdrop of growing climate impacts.
Communities across the country are increasingly experiencing floods, desertification, erosion, extreme heat, and unpredictable weather patterns. These environmental disruptions continue to destroy livelihoods, reduce agricultural productivity, threaten food security, and force vulnerable populations to relocate.
Climate change is becoming one of the most significant drivers of displacement and migration worldwide, with African countries among the most affected.
Nigeria cannot afford policies or economic conditions that push households toward more environmentally harmful energy sources.
What Must Be Done to Protect Clean Cooking in Nigeria
If Nigeria is serious about achieving its climate commitments and sustainable development objectives, access to affordable clean cooking energy must become a national priority.
Expand Support for LPG Adoption
Government and private-sector stakeholders should explore targeted interventions that reduce the cost burden on low-income households and encourage continued LPG adoption.
Strengthen Domestic LPG Infrastructure
Investments in storage facilities, transportation networks, and distribution systems can help improve supply efficiency and reduce market volatility.
Unlock Innovative Financing Solutions
Financial institutions, carbon market actors, and development partners should collaborate to develop financing mechanisms that make clean cooking technologies more affordable and accessible.
Support Clean Cooking Enterprises
Expanding support for clean cooking businesses can stimulate innovation, create jobs, improve market access, and accelerate the household energy transition.
Climate Action Starts in the Kitchen
Climate action does not begin in conference halls alone. It begins in homes, communities, and kitchens.
Promoting clean cooking in Nigeria remains one of the most practical and high-impact climate solutions available today. It improves public health, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, protects forests, empowers women, creates employment opportunities, and strengthens household resilience.
Nigeria’s climate future will not be secured through policies and pledges alone. It will be secured when every household can access affordable, safe, and sustainable cooking energy.
If the country truly wants to win the fight against climate change, protecting access to clean cooking must become a national priority. The success of Nigeria’s climate ambitions may ultimately depend on what happens in the nation’s kitchens.