Africa must roll out gas canister use for clean cooking

From James Rockall, Chief Executive, World Liquid Gas Association, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

In Monica Mark’s piece entitled “Africa’s energy inequality: the challenge of bringing affordable, reliable access” (Special Reports, FT.com, August 19), she was right to focus on Africa’s 600mn people living without reliable access to electricity. But we must not forget the 900mn Africans without access to something just as vital to survival: access to clean cooking.

Roughly four in five households in sub-Saharan Africa rely on traditional biomass fuel including wood, charcoal and animal dung to feed their families. These fuels have devastating consequences, including higher rates of respiratory illnesses, contributions to deforestation and environmental damage, and the enforcement of economic and social barriers, particularly for women and girls.

Africa needs clean cooking solutions and liquefied petroleum gas presents an answer. LPG gas canisters provide ready-made, portable energy for communities across the continent. In many African countries, women spend 1.5 hours each day collecting firewood and four hours cooking — time that could be spent pursuing income-generation activities or educational opportunities.

The issue of clean cooking is often lost in debates on African development given the west’s tendency to take it for granted, but household air pollution results in an estimated 3.7mn deaths annually.

The World Liquid Gas Association, through its “Cooking For Life” initiatives, has positively impacted nearly 500mn people on the African continent. Schools across sub-Saharan Africa are now legally mandated to change their kitchen fuel to LPG, because of the harmful impact that biomass cooking can have on a child’s health. Government and industry need to follow their lead and roll out this solution quickly across the continent. The next generation demands it.

Read the letter published in the FT: https://www.ft.com/content/1ca61cdc-4d64-4d6a-8f89-e2920e1e6d04

Learn more about Clean Cooking with LPG here.