By Olukayode Michael, Maiduguri
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (UN-FAO) is distributing 11,000 stoves to families in Borno State.
Already distributed is 5,000 stoves, with 6,000 more to be distributed before the head of the year, in an effort to checkmate cases of respiratory problems associated with cooking with firewood.
According to a press statement by Patrina Pink, the spokesman of UN-FAO in Maiduguri, said in order “to support families who urgently require sustainable access to fuel and energy, FAO has been distributing fuel-efficient stoves in Borno, home to the region’s largest IDP population. About 5 000 stoves have been supplied to families (one per household) in 10 locations since May, with 6 000 more planned until the end of the year – reaching an estimated 11 000 families in 2018.”
She said: “In IDP camps like Bakassi and across northeastern Nigeria, there is a great need for fuel and energy for cooking and other domestic activities. However, with many IDPs jobless or in precarious manual labour arrangements, few can regularly afford the NGN 100 -150 (USD .27 to USD .40) average daily cost of firewood, the main source of fuel. In effect, families end up selling a portion of their food assistance to pay for household expenses.”
She said: “Cooking using the traditional stove can be cumbersome,” she added that Mallama Abubakar, a resident of the Bakassi camp, claimed it can even be dangerous: ‘’We are happy to get rid of the Murfu, she said, referring to the Hausa (local language) name for cooking on three or more large stones propping up heavy pieces of firewood.”
Abubakar said: “It is making many of us women sick, especially in the chest and eyes,’’
Pink said: “In Monguno, Borno State, where she (Abubakar) lived before the insurgency, she was a roadside food vendor and knows all too well the impact of a constant exposure to heavy smoke.”
She said: “The smoke affects our babies too because we sometimes tend to them as we cook. When we are breastfeeding, smoke enters their eyes and mouths.’’
Pink noted that Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, respiratory illnesses caused by smoke inhalation are the third highest cause of death in the country.
Pink said the stoves lessen the demand for firewood by 65 percent and drastically cut the amount of smoke produced compared to traditional cooking methods. FAO’s stove distributions are funded by the Government of Norway under a project being carried out as part of the Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) global programme.
She said they have found out that the search for firewood for traditional cooking can also be dangerous, adding that: “The security officers try to stop us when we go to the bush to search for firewood,’’ according to Awah Ahmed, also a resident of Bakassi.
Ahmed said: “When you go into the bush you can easily be attacked by Boko Haram. They can take your money, rape or kill you. So we fear going into the bush for wood.’’
A gender-specific activity in much of northeastern Nigeria, firewood collection is usually tasked to women and girls. By extending the life of firewood, the stoves will reduce the need for these groups to look for fuel and energy in unsafe and insecure places, thereby decreasing their risk of facing gender-based violence beyond the camps.
“We wanted to produce the stoves locally to boost the income generating potential of Borno’s very talented local artisans, while meeting the urgent fuel and energy needs of at-risk households,’’ said Suffyan Koroma, FAO Representative in Nigeria.
The Organization established three production centers in the Local Government Areas of Maiduguri Metropolitan Center, Jere and Konduga in Borno. The artisans were trained in the making of the stoves that are produced from clay sourced in the State and cladded with metal for durability.
Greater use of these fuel-efficient stoves will also help to reduce dependence on the forest for fuel. In Borno State, deforestation is a major threat to both to the sustainability of natural resources and long-term food security for the families who depend on forested areas for food and income.
FAO is working closely with the Borno State Ministry of Environment and with the International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development in order to implement activities.