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Traditional cooking methods linked to various health complications – Stakeholders

By
Anthony Apubeo, GNA

Navrongo (U/E), Aug.
13, GNA – Traditional methods of cooking with wood -fuel is believed to be the
major cause some chronic diseases among women and girls, stakeholders at a
forum organized in Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal, have said.

The stakeholders
drawn from communities in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and the Kassena-Nankana
West District said eye infections, lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses
could be attributed to the traditional methods of cooking where a lot of smoke
from the burning wood is inhaled.

The event attracted
stakeholders including the planning officers, assembly members, the Ghana
Education Service (GES), the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and traditional rulers,
among others, from the two districts.

It was organized by
the Organization for Indigenous Initiatives and Sustainability (ORGIIS-Ghana),
an environment focused non-governmental organization with funding support from
SNV, the Netherlands Development Organization. 

Madam Rufina Asure,
a former Health Director of the Bongo District, who is also a government
appointee of the Kassena-Nankana Municipal, expressed worry that some women in
the rural areas still use cow dung and plant residues for cooking meals and the
smoke emanating from such traditional cooking systems contributed to a wide
range of chronic and respiratory illnesses.

She said one of the
pragmatic measures that could be adopted to fast-track the attainment of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was clean cooking adding that “clean
cooking can contribute to an enabling environment to attain the entire Agenda
2030 and help deliver ten of the SDGs”.

Whilst appealing to
government to subsidize Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) including the cylinders
and their accessories, the participants, also pleaded with traditional
authorities to help release land for women to plant woodlots to secure fuel
wood for cooking.

They called on
government and the National Petroleum Authority to create the necessary
environment for the private sector to set up gas filling stations in rural
communities.

Mr Idrissu Andani,
the Development Planning Officer of the Kassena-Nankana Municipal, commended
the NGO and the funding agency for supporting the assemblies to mainstream the
clean energy for cooking into their plans adding that was in line with the
climate change and vulnerability programme that all the assemblies in the
country were expected to execute.

He said the
programme is also well situated for the Greening Ghana Economy being
implemented by government and gave the assurance that the assemblies would work
hard to ensure that all the communities embrace the concept of clean energy for
cooking.

Mr Tahiru Mohammed
Salifu, the Development Planning Officer of the Kassena-Nankana West District
Assembly, said preliminary data gathered so far, with support from
ORGIIS-Ghana  and SNV, indicates that
majority of the community members lack knowledge about the existence of clean
cooking stoves providers in the area.

Mr Clifford Amoah
Adagenera, the Senior Programme Officer of ORGIIS-Ghana, said it is against
this background that his outfit with funding from SNV, the Netherlands
Development Organization, was implementing the ‘Voice for Change Partnership
Project’, as part of the cleaner energy components including LPG and
other improved cooking stoves in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and
Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region.

Mr Dramani Bukari,
the Energy Advisor of SNV, commended the two assemblies for taking the
initiative, and appealed to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural
Development to ensure that all MMDAs in the country mainstream the idea into
their development plans.

GNA

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