First Lady Rachel Ruto calls for adoption of clean cooking to curb pollution

First Lady Rachel Ruto addresses a forum in Freetown City, Sierra Leone. [Courtesy]

First Lady Rachel Ruto has supported the renewed push to expand access to clean cooking across Africa, terming it a crucial step in protecting women and children from the dangers of household air pollution.

Rachel who was speaking during a forum hosted by Sierra Leone’s First Lady Fatima Maada Bio in Freetown City said that there was need to intensify initiatives as part of growing continental efforts to reduce dependence on firewood and charcoal.

The First Lady noted that more than 900 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa relied on charcoal and firewood as fuel and that there was need for the continental leadership to come with ways of ensuring that families are able to embrace clean cooking measures.

“The reliance on biomass remains one of the region’s quietest but deadliest burdens, contributing to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, while exposing millions of women and girls to long hours of fuel collection and smoke-filled kitchens,” she said.

She noted that in rural communities across Africa, cooking is often done over open fires, where smoke hangs thick in kitchens and children grow up breathing it daily and that for women, the transition to clean cooking is not just about energy, but about health, dignity and time saving.

The First Lady said the time used in collecting firewood can be redirected to other activities to improve livelihoods and homes made safer for children stating that clean cooking sits at the intersection of health, climate action and economic empowerment.

“We now have the opportunity and the responsibility to move from survival to sustainability, we are calling for stronger partnerships to make clean energy solutions affordable and accessible to ordinary households,” said Rachel.

Keep Reading

Dr Bio said that expanding access to clean cooking was central to improving public health and advancing women’s empowerment across the continent and scaling these efforts will require sustained political will, private sector investment and community-led approaches.

The Sierra Leone First Lady noted that moving millions of households to cleaner fuels could help reduce deforestation, cut emissions and significantly improve quality of life, particularly for women who bear the greatest burden of traditional cooking methods.

Dr Bio said that for many African families clean cooking is more than a technology shift, it is a pathway to healthier homes and more resilient communities with grassroots efforts across the country are also helping drive required change.

“Through women’s groups and community savings models, more households are gaining access to cleaner cooking stoves and fuels, while women entrepreneurs are emerging as distributors and champions of clean energy solutions in their communities,” said Dr Bio.

Rachel said the initiative adds momentum to Kenya’s own clean cooking agenda, which targets universal access by 2028 which include transitioning institutional kitchens to modern energy systems and integrating cleaner cooking solutions into affordable housing programmes.