Gov't pushes for clean cooking technologies

KAMPALA - With an annual consumption of 1.8 million tonnes of charcoal, the Ugandan government has formed an inter-ministerial committee to promote the use of renewable energy for clean cooking.

According to John Tumuhimbise, the assistant commissioner of renewal energy in the ministry of energy and mineral development, the charcoal industry employs as many as 220,000 people.

Stephen Mugabi, the commissioner environment sector support at the ministry of water, said most of the charcoal production is from natural forests and takes place on private land where the government has limited control on land use and tree harvesting.

He said government loses 120,000 hectares of forest and one of the drivers is charcoal burning, translating into 3.6 million tonnes of carbon annually.

These comments came to fore during a meeting in Kampala organized by the Office of the President in partnership with Uganda National Alliance on Clean Cooking (UNACC) at Hotel Africana.

 A participant takes notes during the workshop. (Credit: Francis Emorut)

The aim was to build consensus on policy briefs relating to clean cooking and biomass energy.

Officials from ministries and the Office of the President, members of academia, MPs and private sector attended the meeting.

George Mugerwa from the Office of the President said 90% of Uganda's population relies on firewood and charcoal as their primary source of fuel to prepare daily meals.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report indicates that 4.3 million deaths are linked to indoor air pollution globally and over 18,250 in Uganda.

To mitigate use of charcoal and firewood, the inter-ministerial committee on cleaning cooking will be spearheaded by the ministry of energy.

Its mandate is to advocate for policy, planning and resource allocation for clean cooking solutions within the line ministries as well as providing coordination among government agencies.

Kitgum Municipality MP Beatrice Anywar called on stakeholders to use women as change agents to promote clean cooking techniques.

"Women are more affected. A woman is concerned with cooking for the welfare of her family. Why not make women change agents to champion this cause?"