India’s rural households use biomass fuel for cooking to the tune of 80% and around 900 million people in sub-Saharan Africa or 85% of the population use kerosene or biomass for cooking.
India’s rural households use biomass fuel for cooking to the tune of 80% and around 900 million people in sub-Saharan Africa or 85% of the population use kerosene or biomass for cooking. The burning of these biomass fuels gives rise to thousands of diseases which has been a cause of more than 2 million premature deaths every year.
Women using biomass fuels like wood, charcoal, or kerosene for cooking meals or for heating or lighting their houses is a very common picture in countries of Asia, Africa, and South Africa. This common picture may actually be taken as “a common thing” but in reality, raises a great concern regarding the health condition of women both physically as well as mentally.
A cause of more than 2 million premature deaths every year
India’s rural households use biomass fuel for cooking to the tune of 80% and around 900 million people in sub-Saharan Africa or 85% of the population use kerosene or biomass for cooking. Easy accessibility and affordability in this situation come with the cost of the health condition of the women, which is more often under looked especially in rural areas.
The burning of these biomass fuels gives rise to thousands of diseases by producing a significant amount of indoor air pollution, which household occupants inadvertently breathe in. This has been a cause of more than 2 million premature deaths every year.
What picture do studies and surveys show?
People who couldn’t afford to heat their houses had worse mental health in comparison to those who could afford it, according to recent research in the UK. Lower ranks of life satisfaction were the result of this.
According to the survey conducted by the “Down to Earth” organization in the urbanizing communities in Kenya, Cameroon, and Ghana where women are typically in charge of food preparation and cooking, they hypothesized that women may be more prone than males to experience mental health problems as a result of utilizing biomass fuels.
According to the study, women who cooked mostly with charcoal and wood had almost a 50% higher chance of likely depression than women who used gas.
The root cause, implementation followed by adaptation
“During the early days of my marriage, I frequently used chulha to cook meals since my mother-in-law preferred the traditional techniques but the whole process is extremely tiring and unhealthy as my eyes used to burn from the burning of the wood, and moreover to have continuously blow into a funnel or pipe to make sure that the woods still are burning and this resulted in a dangerous number of coughs,” said Madhabi, a homemaker in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
In discussion with us, she further added “Now it is so much more convenient to cook on the gas stove, it is time-saving and does not affect my health both physically and mentally”
These problems need solutions as soon as possible, More surveys and studies would be a huge help in order to find the root causes and solutions. What is more important here is the implementation of solutions and the awareness among the communities and the public to talk about the problems followed by the adaptation of new ideas.
About Author
