Otu’s wife distributes Smokeless Cook Stoves, Wonder cooking Pots to Women in C’River 

From Ene Asuquo, Calabar 

The Wife of Cross River State governor, Mrs Eyoanwan Bassey Otu weekend flagged off the distribution of smokeless cook stoves and wonder cooking pots to over 400 women  in Cross River State.

The event which took place at the  office complex of the First lady in Calabar was done n collaboration with the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).

Flagging off the distribution of the items to the over 400 women in the state, the representative of the first lady, Mrs Asi Akiba, wife of the House of Representatives member representing Calabar municipality/ Odukpani Federal constituency in her remarks said the event which was also supported by Atmosfair Germany and the Cross Rive State Government through the Cross River State Council on Climate Change and Green Economy Commission Consortium is with the aim of promoting clean  energy efficiency and reduced carbon emission in domestic cooking 

According to her, the smokeless cook stoves and wonder pots are designed to be efficient, use less fuel, cook faster, and are environmentally friendly.

The first lady stated that the  innovative cooking solutions will not only reduce cooking time, improving the health of the users and energy consumption but will also contribute immensely to address climate change by reducing the indiscriminate cutting down of trees for firewoods.

Mrs Otu maintained that the unsustainable and constantly mounting consumption of firewood by Nigerian households, institutions  is one of the main causes of deforestation and land degradation

The first lady also stated that the World Health Organization( WHO) has estimated that from the mid-2000s, Nigeria’s population’s heavy reliance on inefficient cooking energy technologies have resulted in 95,000 deaths per year mostly women and children from smoke inhalation related diseases.

She opined that Women often bear the brunt of indoor air pollution and fuel costs, adding that the initiative will bring substantial relief and savings to them,  stressing further that Some of the women previously spent over N1,000 daily on firewood, and that she was confident these new cooking stoves and wonder pots will significantly reduce their fuel expenses.

In her remarks, the Director General, Cross river Council on climate change, Dr Edu Effiom said the flag-off of the distribution of smokeless cook stoves was indeed a turning point in the clean development mechanism as its aim to reach the most vulnerable group susceptible to the impact of climate change. 

Effiom maintained that these group size is significant as more than 74% of households in Nigeria rely on fuelwood or charcoal for cooking, adding that the bulk of the percentage are in the rural areas  where the use of inefficient cooking methods, most commonly an open fire is widespread. 

She stated that Wood and charcoal used in open fires are the main cause of Indoor Air Pollution, resulting in significant respiratory health challenge, which is why the introduction of the smokeless cook stoves is timely. 

Effiom said heavy reliance on fuelwood and charcoal in homes and cottage industries like bakery, fish smoking terminals has led to high usage of fuelwood and charcoal which far exceeds the replenishment rate. 

According to her, “the consequent of this is increasing deforestation, desert encroachment, soil erosion and loss of soil fertility”.  adding that the introduction of the smokeless cook stove comes with significant Environmental benefits.