Gambia moves to develop national clean cooking strategy

The Gambia is working towards developing a National Clean Cooking Strategy aimed at promoting safer, cleaner and more sustainable cooking solutions, as partners warn of the health and environmental consequences of traditional cooking methods. The initiative is being pursued under the Regional Clean Cooking Action in West Africa (ReCCAWA) programme, which is supporting efforts to expand access to clean cooking technologies across 12 West African countries. The Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines, in collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission and the European Union (EU), convened a national kick-off workshop on Wednesday at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre to discuss the development of the strategy.

The programme is financed by the European Union and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs through ECOWAS, with the aim of promoting clean cooking through interventions targeting demand, supply and an enabling policy environment. Speaking at the workshop, Carmen, a representative of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), said clean cooking was important for the health of women and children, environmental protection and the creation of business opportunities. She noted that women and children were particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of smoke from traditional cooking methods, while the continued use of firewood also contributed to pressure on forests. “It’s important because of the health for women and children, because they spend hours in the toxic world, and it’s very bad for their health. It’s also bad for nature, because it takes trees,” she said. Carmen added that the programme could also create opportunities for private sector development by supporting businesses involved in clean…