Harmful Affects of Cooking in Africa
Harmful Affects of Cooking in Africa
By: Matt Peraza
Imagine if you live in a third world country with no energy
and you have to rely on solid fuels for your energy needs. How would you feel
if the only way to cook a meal had deadly consequences?
Most countries living in energy poverty also live in other
poverty as well and rely on their scarcity of resources. Sub-Saharan African
countries such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe mostly depend on charcoal for
their cooking fuel. Woman and children spend countless hours a day in their
dwellings under harmful conditions. Solid fuels cause air pollution that cause
immediate impacts to billions. Cook stoves that are being used in these
countries release large amounts of air pollution that contribute to early
deaths, estimated around 4 billion a year. These cook stoves also affect air
quality and climate across the globe.
Many different organizations are trying to solve for the energy
poverty problem in these countries but it will take many different kinds of
disciplines to do so. One such organization is the Energy Poverty PIR inSouthern Africa (EPPSA). The research of
this organization is focused on technology for cooking and heating that are
clean, efficient and feasible. They measure the technology impact on the
people, environment and on their health. A problem that occurs is large scale
how to get the majority to use this technology, how to get it to them and how
to make it feasible in their country. This direction to help will take time and
man power to make a bigger impact in the future. More researches and educators
are needed to help solve these problems. Along with finding solutions the EPPSA
trains the next generation of researches to help expand this process for years
to come.
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