by @admin | Mar 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
COOKING SHOULDN’T KILL: LET US PRESS FOR GENDER EQUALITY TODAY FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOMORROW International Women’s Day, usually celebrated on March 8, is a day when we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women all over the world. The theme for 2022 International Women’s Day is “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” – a push for gender equality worldwide for a sustainable future. The Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking joins with many to press for progress in gender equality especially when it comes to the unpaid work and task associated with cooking. Nigeria suffers a “silent” energy crisis – poor access to clean cooking energy. Over 20 million households and about 120 million Nigerians depend on wood primarily as a source of fuel for cooking. It is recognized that women disproportionately make up this number. This is despite the abundance of modern cooking energy sources including natural gas. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that cooking in an open fire releases harmful toxic (especially particulate matter and carbon monoxide), which causes about 95,000 deaths annually in Nigeria. After malaria and HIV/AIDS, this is Nigeria’s third highest killer of mostly women and children. Cooking in an open fire in your kitchen is also likened to burning 400 cigarettes an hour. Cooking inefficiently using the traditional method (open fire), causes pneumonia in children, low birth weight babies, still birth, lung diseases etc. Moreover, it is expensive, burning up to 90% more wood than is necessary and costing poor families money that could be put to better use on education, health and nutrition. The use of efficient and...
