Kaduna women have called on the state government to make energy efficient cooking stove available to reduce the use of firewood in order to preserve the forests.
Hannatu Soni, the President, Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation (SWOFON), made the call at a meeting facilitated by Bridge That Gap Initiative, with the support of Africa Media Development Foundation in Kaduna on Thursday.
She said that if the issue of deforestation was left unchecked, Nigeria might become uninhabitable in a few decades.
According to her, Kaduna State Government must support the mass production of affordable, energy efficient stoves so that women, particularly those in the low-income bracket, who cannot afford cooking gas, can access alternatives.
“Findings show that nearly three billion people worldwide live in energy poverty, lacking access to clean energy technologies, and cook their meals over open flames with biomass fuels such as charcoal and wood.
“Traditional cooking stoves are incredibly inefficient, wasting 90 per cent of the energy generated and requiring up to one-third of a family’s income for fuel.
“It is also hazardous to the environment, causing 25 per cent of the world’s global black-carbon emissions.
“The smoke and other toxic fumes that result from cooking this well-known as Household Air Pollution are estimated to cause or directly contribute to 3.8 million deaths per year, more than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
“It has also been estimated that the number of people who cook with biomass is expected to grow as global population increases, reaching 3.24 billion by 2025.
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“We are all aware that one of the effects of climate change is global warming and Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions contribute largely to global warming.
“Therefore, there is a need for CO2 emissions reductions from household cook stove use.
“We are calling on the State government to put citizens, especially women first in addressing climate change impacts and support women in building an environmental friendly practice that will address climate change impacts,” she said.
Ms Gloria Bulus, the Executive Director, Bridge That Gap Initiative, also raised concerns that underdeveloped and poor countries were more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change compared to other countries.
“With women being the most vulnerable because of their traditional roles in the household.’’
“We are raising our voices because we do not want our children to look at us in the face and put the blame on us that we knew and had opportunity to fight climate change and we did nothing about it.
“The good news is, there are ways we can mitigate the impacts of climate change, especially on women by using energy efficient cook stoves which will reduce smoke and toxic emissions by up to 80 per cent.
“It will also reduce fuel consumption by an average of 60 per cent, which corresponds to a reduction of between two to three tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.’’
“We are demanding that the government support women with energy efficient cooking stoves by making it readily available to women, especially those in rural communities.’’