Abstract
The household cooking sector makes up 80% of the energy use in Nigeria, of which 90% is from biomass, particularly fuelwood, which is used in traditional cookstoves (Gujba, Mulugetta, & Azapagic, 2015). If no action is taken, then air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and methane will continue to be emitted from these unsafe, unclean cookstoves (Kumar M., Kumar S., & Tyagi S., 2013). These air pollutants contribute to climate change and can cause health problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acute lower respiratory infections, and lung cancer (World Health Organization, 2017). This is a problem for Nigerian women; they are culturally expected to do all cooking and childcare tasks, meaning that they mostly stay indoors with their children, and despite being the ones who suffer the most under the negative effects, often do not know about said negative impacts of their hazardous cookstoves. Therefore, a more specific problem we are looking to solve is how to educate these women and children about the dangers of unclean cookstoves. Our project aims to promote the sales of clean cookstoves and educate Nigerian women about the negative effects brought by traditional cookstoves by implementing an educational video and a DIY cooker kit that will advocate for smoke reduction and less usage of poor quality cookstoves in an entertaining manner.
Keywords: biomass, cookstoves, education, health, Nigeria, video, women
New cookstove adoption is a major issue in Nigeria. The current cookstoves being used are highly unsafe due to producing large amount of indoor pollution, which is estimated to be responsible for 79,000 deaths per year in Nigeria according to the World Health Organization (Gujba H., Mulugetta Y., & Azapagic A., 2015). Despite the risks, Nigerian women are still unwilling to use solar cookstoves. As a group, we are going to investigate why many other clean cookstove programs have failed to implementing solar cookstoves, using the information from our investigation we find to produce an educational video about cookstoves that is more persuasive than similar attempts at educating Nigerian women about the benefits of cookstoves.
Cooking has remained the center of a serious issue in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization (2017), there are 3 billion people around the world who still burn biomass in open fires and use simple stoves for cooking and heating (World Health Organization, 2016). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 76% of the population (575 million people) rely on biomass as their primary fuel for cooking (International Energy Agency, 2006). In Nigeria, the household cooking sector consumes 80% of the country’s energy, of which 90% comes from the use of biomass (Gujba, H., Mulugetta, Y., & Azapagic, A., 2015). For cooking, the common energy sources are fuel wood, charcoal, kerosene, and cooking gas. Other less common sources include sawdust, crop residues, cassava sticks, charcoal, and, in extreme cases, dung. Nigeria consumes over 50 million tons of fuelwood per year, which is used by over 70% of Nigerians living in rural areas (Oyedepo, S. O., 2012).
A universal definition of a traditional cookstove does not really exist; the term can refer to many different devices under different contexts. Some common threads between the varying definitions are references to low-cost stove models that are used in conjunction to people’s traditional habits. They usually are low efficient and have high carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions. According to Barbieri, Riva, & Colombo (2017), there are four main types of traditional cookstoves: three-stone fire stoves, mud stoves, metal stoves, and fire clay stoves (also known as ceramic stoves). Three-stone fire stoves, also known as open-fire stoves, are simple, zero-cost fires built directly on the ground, where the three stones in question act as support for the cooking pot. Since the flames surround the pot directly, it can be the most efficient of the four models, but the major drawbacks are the large amount of heat energy lost to the surrounding environment, the large amount of particulate matter emissions, and the exposure to open flame. The first and perhaps third drawbacks have been counteracted by building the fire under the ground so the pot remains at surface-level, but the second drawback remains a huge problem.
Next, mud stoves are made of sun-dried mud that is dried by heat from fire and has three sides enclosing the fire and a hole for placing the pot on the top. These stoves are semi-permanent, and can be built on site for little to no cost. They are supposed to be more efficient than the three-stone fire stoves since enclosing the fire reduces the amount of lost heat energy, but this depends on the specific model and its field-performance. Their fuel consumption can be higher, and their ability to be homemade can result in a drop in efficiency and durability if not constructed correctly. In addition, an inappropriate primary air supply may result in incomplete combustion, which can increase the amount of carbon monoxide and particulate matter emitted, which increases air pollution. Common models used in Africa are the Mogogo and Jiko models.
There are also cookstoves made of steel, metal sheets, or cast iron. As such, they can easily be built using scrap metal such as cooking oil containers or old oil drums. Similar to the others, these stoves are low or no cost; however, the people who build these stoves need to be specifically trained to do so, and materials like stencils should be used to guide cutting of components that can be coupled by semi-skilled artisans. Metal stoves are very perishable, as due to their low-maintenance nature, corrosion and rust can doom it to a brief lifespan. Common models are the VITA stove, developed by S. F. Baldwin, and the metallic Jiko, which is suitable for charcoal.
Lastly, fired clay stoves, otherwise known as ceramic stoves, are made of sand, clay, mica, sawdust, and grass mixed with binding materials, similar to a mud stove. With this stove, the clay can be baked in an appropriate kiln to increase the durability and reliability of the material. This stove typically costs about $10-$20, mostly because the specific skills of potters and stencils, molds, and tools for kneading the material are needed. In addition, recent models have metal cladding that protects the structure from accidental blows and the natural “crumbling away” process, increasing durability (Barbieri J., Riva F., & Colombo E., 2017).
Smoke from burning any type of biomass through primitive indoor cookstoves is comprised of a variety of harmful pollutants. Wood smoke contains PM10 (particulate matter with size of 10 micrometers or less), PM2.5 (size of 2.5 micrometers or less), and PM1 (size of 1 micrometer or less); both PM2.5 and PM1 are able to penetrate deep into the lungs and the bloodstream, severely damaging the health of those who inhale it. These particles are present because the cookstoves lack filters and similar mechanisms for particle collection and management during the cooking process. They are also too poor-quality to fully burn the biomass placed within it, causing inefficiency and more waste production compared to a higher quality cookstove. (Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, n.d.) The harmful gaseous pollutants released by low quality cookstoves include carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, and sulfur oxides, which all can lead to death (Kumar M., Kumar S., & Tyagi, 2013). In 2000, air pollution contributed to 41,000 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) deaths and 350,000 deaths due to acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in the African region (which includes Nigeria), while the regions of America has only up to 11,000 COPD deaths and 15,000 ALRI deaths (World Health Organization, 2017).
In 2015, the World Health Organization created a series of guidelines addressing air pollution. Amongst other standards it set a limit is on the amount of unfiltered PM2.5 (one of the gasses released by biomass cookers) that can be emitted in the air without affecting human health. They concluded that 0.23 milligrams of emissions per minute (mg/min), or approximately 0.121 kilograms of emissions per year (mg/yr), is the maximum for every individual. (World Health Organization, 2014) Nigeria, in contrast, has more than 50 kilograms per capita worth of PM2.5 emissions (Huang, et al., 2014) and a population of 190,712,048 people as of April 11, 2017. (Worldometers, 2017). This far exceeds the World Health Organization’s guidelines, and Nigeria is also notable for being one of the few regions where the majority of PM2.5 emissions is produced residentially and commercially. (Huang, et al., 2014). 4.3 million deaths have been caused globally by household air pollution from cooking with solid fuels, most of those deaths being of women and children (Couch, 2015). Women, and also their children, are immoderately affected by diseases associated with inhaling smoke, as they spend the most time cooking over the cookstoves and in the home. In fact, the inhaling of wood smoke has been the third biggest killer in Nigeria, after malaria and AIDS (Stein, 2015). Furthermore, the harm does not stop even after leaving the homes; according to a recent study, household air pollution accounts for 12% of ambient air pollution worldwide (Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, 2016).
Since these traditional cookstoves are all being fueled by wood, such a massive and rapid consumption contributes to the deforestation and desertification problems that have developed in Nigeria. The annual rate of deforestation is approximately 3.5%, which is about 350,000 to 400,000 hectares per year. Likewise, Nigeria has one of the highest desertification rates in the world, losing 55.7% of its forests between 2000 and 2005 (Balarabe, 2011). Soil degradation can also occur with the lack of tree roots holding the soil together, which could affect agriculture and water quality (Aikhionbare, 2015). Moreover, the emissions of the burning solid fuels are some of the most important contributors to global climate change, producing carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon, etc.; without the intake of greenhouse gases by the trees, the gases will only accumulate further in the air (Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, 2016).
Gender rights problems are also connected to poor quality cookstoves and biomass misuse. Women and girls in poor communities can spend up to four hours each day just on fetching resources far away from their homes, and the distance is only getting longer as the consequences of deforestation and desertification become increasingly widespread. This increases the chance of gender-based violence against women; since the task of energy collection is exclusively placed on women, they are more often than not lacking a male companion while collecting wood. Between the time fetching biomass and feeding their families, the women do not end up having time for other activities, such as education or work (Couch, 2015).
The two main factors that prevent clean cookstove from being adopted are motivation and affordability, which both translate towards the overall level of community engagement. Motivation is connected to culture and habit. Women will feel less motivated to perform acts that are unfamiliar to their culture. For example, many women use their biomass collecting acts as a social event, where they can set aside time to communicate with friends and relatives. Therefore, their motivations will go against actions that interfere too heavily with this social time, and thus it often will be prioritized over understanding the drawbacks of biomass collecting such as deforestation (Akoh, 2014). Affordability refers to the issue of if the price charged for the cookstove is feasible for an individual to spend while still being high enough for the cookstove company to break even and make a profit. It is strongly connected to motivation, as when people in rural and poor areas cannot afford to get a new stove, they will not feel as passionate about acquiring one regardless of how much more efficient and safe the new cookstoves are.
Having an affordable stove that people are motivated to purchase has the ability to create a high level of engagement, increasing their involvement. It is, after all, one thing to give somebody a cookstove and another for that person to actually make use of it properly. Many people in rural areas are ignorant of the environmental impact of their poor quality cookstoves, and they need to be engaged if they are to be involved in obtaining better quality cookstoves. Increasing engagement is often hindered by the disregard of their thoughts, concerns, and culture in the face of pushing environmental policies and plans; as a result, most non-government initiatives have failed in their attempts regarding this matter (Akoh, 2014). For instance, many women continue to cook over open-fire stoves in spite of the health risks because they want to keep their traditions. They believe that cooking in this manner cooks food faster and more properly. They also enjoy the way that the smoke makes food taste, because when burned on low quality cookstoves, wood and other forms of biomass impart a unique flavor akin to American charcoal grilling that cannot be fully replicated with solar or even other safer biomass cookstoves (Gunther, 2015). In addition, they lack the knowledge of the indoor air pollution and the health issues brought by cooking. A study conducted in the Isiohor community, located in the Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria, showed that 87.2% of the respondents being surveyed had poor knowledge of the health effects that resulted by the prolonged exposure to air pollution from indoor cooking. Conversely, only 12.8% of the respondents had good knowledge of such health effects (Eurasian Journal of Medicine, 2014).
Culture has great impact on the purchasing habits of Nigerians, regardless of diversity in said cultures and religions. For example, biomass stoves are traditionally placed indoors within its own room, so the smoke it produces is contained in that area. (E. Peri-Okonny, personal communication, March 29, 2017). This has the effect of downplaying the seriousness of the smoke released by the cookstoves; the smoke production is contained to one room per house so people view it as less of an issue, even though it is still capable of causing harm from within the room. As a result, Nigerians are not incentivised to change their cookstoves since they do not perceive any problems that are not being resolved with their current cookstove setup. Nigerian culture is also family-centric, thus family and community have great influence on purchasing habits (McCann Health and Africare, 2016). Furthermore, although Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, people prefer informal open markets where they can bargain to get a better price and establish interpersonal relationships between consumers and sellers (McCann Health and Africare, 2016). Thus, Internet and media, a common way to connect globally, are not as important. Poverty is very prevalent in Nigeria; there are more than 100 million people living on less than a $1 (£0.63) a day (BBC News, 2012). Therefore, Nigerians tend to make more short-term purchases that meet their immediate needs as opposed to long-term bulk purchases, even if it is at a lower unit price (McCann Health and Africare, 2016). The Nigerian habit of short-term purchases has affected the priorities of Nigerian women in terms of what to purchase first; for example, Nigerian women like quality clothes, jewelry, and other fun goods, so they will sometimes spend money on those goods instead of buying food. (E. Peri-Okonny, personal communication, March 29, 2017). This means that one possible route to take in terms of motivating cookstove purchases is to make it seem fun and designing it to look good.
Our approach to solving this problem involved gathering information about our issue through research, comparison of previous methods used to solve this problem, and through interviews of people who were pertinent to our topic. We were fortunate enough to have an interview Dr. Martín Burt. He is social entrepreneur who is trying to eliminate poverty in the world, for our project. As our then-broader project needed to be narrowed down, he helped direct us to a steadier path. He said that if we were to concentrate on technology, making a solar energy device that produces no smoke is a “beautiful solution.” (personal communication, March 21, 2017) At the same time, it can also be difficult because solar energy cannot be stored efficiently enough with the technology available today (personal communication, March 21, 2017). However, we definitely wanted to focus on education, so we also asked Dr. Burt about a relevant and effective way to educate women. His thoughts were that if we wanted to concentrate mainly on educating women about the negative effects induced by traditional cookstoves, then “boring” education, such as sending them a hard copy of a pamphlet, is most likely not going to work (personal communication, March 21, 2017). We would need to make education fun and entertaining for the women and children in order to be able to change their cultural perspective towards the dangerous impacts of the cookstoves (personal communication, March 21, 2017). Therefore, if we can implement a fun way of educating them, while valuing their culture and backgrounds, then this can be another solution to our problem.
Other interviewees included Mrs. Eruni Peri-Okonny and Dr. Orode Doherty. Mrs. Peri-Okonny is a woman who was born and raised in Nigeria, so she was able to provide information about Nigerian culture in a way that the Internet could not. She explained that many Nigerian women in rural areas often find accessing and using wood-based cookstoves easier due to spotty electricity and the low cost of use (personal communication, March 29, 2017). Also, cell phones are not common in rural areas, and if rural Nigerians do have them, then they are likely to be flip phones that are primarily to communicate with family living in urban areas via calling or text (personal communication, March 29, 2017). She said that women like to go to parties, go to church, and visit friends for fun, while children (primarily boys) like to play outside and play video games (personal communication, March 29, 2017). Nigerian women would be receptive to door-to-door salespeople and word-of-mouth advertising, they like buying fancy jewelry and clothing, and they like being able to buy goods that immediately benefit them. They also are a communal society that likes to share (personal communication, March 29, 2017).
Dr. Doherty works with Africare, a non-profit organization which seeks to better the quality of life of African people. Dr. Doherty specifically works with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) stoves. She provided information on the implementation of clean cookstoves and the problems that people attempting to bring clean cookstoves to other countries encounter. She emphasized that affordability, availability, accessibility and acceptability are the four necessary factors for successful cookstove implementation (personal communication, March 30, 2017). Furthermore, education is key, as many local Nigerians hold fears about clean cookstoves that are misguided and erroneous (personal communication, March 30, 2017). She mentioned that interpersonal communication is one of the most effective methods in promoting clean cookstoves, and that Nigerians like to mimic what famous people are doing (personal communication, March 30, 2017).
Based on the interviews, we want to educate people using the combination of a video and a DIY activity kit. In order to accomplish this goal, we will engage in further research on how to make a video informing people about the negative impacts of traditional wood-fueled cookstoves. We are also going to be considering and researching different types of video display devices when showing the video. A projector seems to be the most likely choice for this device, but we are still uncertain of what type of projector will be used for presenting the video. As a result, we will be researching different types of projectors to find the one that best fits the needs of the video.