From north to south, east and west, firewood remains the most accessible cooking fuel in Nigeria.
This is because of its low direct cost and widespread availability, considering Nigeria’s tropical background.
While it looks affordable, the overall cost of using firewood behind make zero economic, environment nor domestic cost.
These costs are rarely calculated, but they contribute to economic strain, poor health outcomes, environmental degradation, and lost social development opportunities.
Although clean cooking technologies are often seen as expensive alternatives, a careful examination shows that they make more economic sense in the long term.
The Real Cost of Traditional Cooking Fuels
The use of firewood in traditional stoves can create significant, yet often overlooked, economic burdens for families.
The time spent gathering firewood largely falls on women and children, pulling them away from educational pursuits, work opportunities, and much-needed rest.
In their 2020 paper: “We cannot stop cooking: Stove stacking, seasonality and the risky practices of household cookstove transitions in Nigeria”, Sarah Jewitt, Paul Atagher, and Michael Clifford found that in Benue State, Nigeria, women often walk for hours each day to collect firewood.
This task becomes even tougher during the dry season, when nearby supplies run low and the search stretches over longer distances.
Such reliance on firewood contributes to what is known as time poverty, limiting personal development and perpetuating cycles of intellectual poverty within the community.
Additionally, the health issues linked with household air pollution adds another dimension to this extensive financial strain.
Prolonged exposure to biomass smoke has been linked to various ailments including respiratory issues and cardiovascular diseases.
In many Nigerian households, it’s common for children to be carried on their mothers’ backs while they cook—these little ones are then exposed to harmful pollutants at a vulnerable age.
Although few households attribute health problems directly to smoke intake, the medical expenses arising from chronic respiratory illnesses and frequent infections are significant and largely borne out-of-pocket.
Moreover, the economic strain of maintaining cooking systems based on firewood varies per season.
In the dry season, fuelwood burns faster, but during the rainy season, wet firewood burns takes time to ignite, and larger quantities of fuelwood are required for even the simplest meals.
Households often find themselves spending on purchasing firewood during this period, which further strains already limited household budgets.
Environmental Degradation and Infrastructure Losses
The continued reliance on firewood is causing significant harm to our environment, which in turn brings about serious economic challenges.
In Nigeria, the depletion of forests is speeding up soil erosion, lowering agricultural yields, and making floods more frequent and severe.
Urban and suburban areas are particularly hard hit as deforestation leads to increased runoff during the rainy season, resulting in damage to infrastructure, homes, and essential public services.
The environmental destruction we see translates into economic burdens that outweigh any short-term savings families think they gain by using firewood.
Moreover, the black carbon released from burning biomass fuels is a major contributor to climate change.
While this issue is often viewed on a global scale, its local effects are felt right away. Altered rainfall patterns and degraded natural resources are undermining the livelihoods of those whose lives depend on farming and fishing.
Why Firewood Remains Despite the Costs
Households do not persist with firewood use due to ignorance or irrationality. Stove stacking, where multiple cooking methods are used depending on circumstances, is common and rational behavior.
In Benue State, families often alternate between traditional wood fires and cleaner stoves depending on fuel availability, meal size, urgency, and cultural practices.
Firewood cooking is often preferred for its ability to cook large quantities of food and impart specific flavors valued in local cuisine.
Economic insecurity and access constraints heavily influence these decisions. Even when cleaner alternatives are technically available, the initial cost of purchasing clean cookstoves or the ongoing cost of fuels like LPG is prohibitive for many low-income families.
Concerns about the reliability and safety of clean cooking options, such as fears of gas explosions, further entrench reliance on traditional methods.
Limited awareness of the long-term health risks associated with biomass smoke also weakens the motivation to transition.
Immediate priorities such as food security and cost management take precedence over more distant and abstract health risks.
Without immediate and visible advantages, many households see little incentive to abandon established practices.
Why Clean Cooking Make Economic Sense
Even with the challenges, clean cooking technologies bring significant economic benefits when considered over a reasonable timeframe.
Upgraded cookstoves and cleaner fuels can greatly cut down the time and money families spend on cooking energy.
In urban settings where firewood is bought, these clean cookstoves can soon pay for themselves through lower fuel expenses.
Meanwhile, in rural areas, saving time from less wood gathering allows people to engage more in economic activities, education, and community engagements.
Studies reviewed by the World Bank show that using improved biomass stoves can reduce household spending on cooking fuels by as much as sixty percent in some situations.
These savings contribute to a notable enhancement in household cash flow, especially for those who are most financially handicapped.
Savings from health-related expenses also pile up in the list of advantages of clean cooking. By minimising indoor air pollution, we can cut down on medical costs and decrease the amount of productivity lost due to illness.
Moreover, cleaner stoves contribute to a safer home environment by lowering the chances of burns and accidents, which in turn helps to reduce those unnecessary household expenses.
Building an Enabling Environment for Clean Cooking
To effectively tackle this issue, we need a well-rounded policy approach that goes beyond simply giving out cookstoves.
Simply subsidising clean cookstoves won’t cut it if clean fuels remain too pricey or if the cultural and practical needs of users are overlooked.
We should look at expanding financial options like microloans, pay-as-you-go schemes, and targeted subsidies for clean fuels to ensure low-income households can access clean cooking solutions.
Encouraging local production and distribution of clean cookstoves will not only help bring down costs but also create job opportunities in the community.
It’s equally important to invest in infrastructure. We must establish dependable supply chains for clean fuels such as LPG or biogas, so that clean cooking is a dependable choice throughout the year—not just when firewood becomes scarce or costly.
Without these significant changes, even the most innovative cookstove designs will struggle to gain widespread acceptance.
Education Is the Way Out
Making lasting changes to our cooking habits requires the consideration of the social and cultural aspects.
It’s essential to create public education initiatives that showcase the unfavorable costs of firewood and the genuine advantages of clean cooking options.
These campaigns should be tailored to respect cultural values, recognising how much households cherish traditional cooking practices while also highlighting clean alternatives as appealing and feasible.
Additionally, we should engage with schools, community groups, youth-led and youth-focused organisations, and women-focused organisations to incorporate knowledge about clean cooking into daily routines.
By raising awareness of how our cooking choices affect health and household budgets, these efforts can help foster a smooth transition towards cleaner solutions over time.
Relying on firewood for cooking brings with it a range of economic, health, and environmental challenges that shouldn’t be overlooked. Embracing clean cooking technologies offers a smart alternative that can enhance household well-being and finance, safeguard public health, and promote sustainability.
However, simply handing out stoves won’t suffice; effective policies are essential to tackle issues like affordability, accessibility, cultural habits, and how consumers view these options.
• SustyVibes is a Non-Governmental Orgaisation (NGO) of youth groups focused on environmental and climate action.