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Zambia aims to increase access to clean cooking solutions to 40% by 2030 under its National Energy Compact, Minister of Green Economy and Environment Gilbert Siame has said.
Siame said the country, like many others in Africa, remained heavily dependent on traditional woodfuels, with most households, particularly in rural areas, lacking access to clean cooking alternatives.
He was speaking on Tuesday during a high-level dialogue on accelerating clean cooking access in Africa, held at the Antalya Expo Centre in Antalya, Turkey.
Siame said more than 84% of Zambian households had historically relied on firewood and charcoal, driven by factors including urban migration, the low initial cost of traditional mbaula stoves and entrenched economic links to informal charcoal supply chains.
“Households spend enormous resources on charcoal, apart from the public health impacts from indoor air pollution and chronic forest degradation,” Siame stated.
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He said the government, working with international development agencies and the private sector, had developed strategic priorities and interventions to address the challenge and expand access to cleaner cooking technologies.
Siame said Zambia had several opportunities to achieve its 40% target, including through institutional programmes such as the nationwide school feeding initiative being implemented by President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration.
“Boarding schools, which have always prepared meals for students, most of whom use firewood, provide an opportunity to scale up clean cooking,” he said.
He also identified health facilities and prisons as potential areas for expanding clean cooking adoption, saying institutions that prepare meals for large numbers of people could help accelerate the transition.
“The most important unit that should not be ignored is the household, where the health of women and girls is under constant threat from indoor pollution,” he said.
Siame thanked the organisers for the invitation to share Zambia’s experiences and perspectives on advancing clean cooking access across Africa.
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