Samira Bawumia promotes clean cookstoves in Jamestown
Ghana’s Second Lady and Ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Samira Bawumia, has taken her clean cooking initiative to Jamestown in Accra to educate residents.
Samira Bawumia is collaborating with other entities to champion the use of clean cookstoves.
She embarked on the drive, accompanied by the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia E. Palmer and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Michael S. Regan, to achieve environmental sustainability in Ghana.
Women in Jamestown, a notable fishing community in Accra, often face challenges with traditional cooking methods as they rely on less sustainable fuel sources, including charcoal, firewood and car tyres.
On their tour, Mrs Bawumia and Mr Regan interacted with residents, gaining firsthand insights into the traditional cooking practices prevalent in town.
In her interactions, Mrs Bawumia stressed: “Our women go through many challenges to put food on the table, and cooking is the number one challenge. A lot of the non-communicable diseases are from unclean cooking, respiratory illness, blindness and all of that, so we’re committed to helping our women to transition from firewood and charcoal to cleaner energy sources”.
She highlighted the importance of embracing more sustainable and health-friendly cooking practices.
“Our traditional cooking methods are an integral part of our culture. However, it is essential to balance this with the need for environmentally sustainable and healthy practices,” she added.
According to the Second Lady, who also doubles as a champion of the World Health Organisation’s Health and Energy Platform for Action (HEPA), the government is committed to resolving the challenge associated with the cost of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and making it accessible to all.
On his part, Mr Palmer noted that “everyone should have access to clean cooking. It should not matter who you are, where you live”.
“And so, we are going to continue to work with the Second Lady to do everything we can to ensure everyone has access to clean cooking,” he concluded.
Other delegations included the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, Dr Henry Kokofu and the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), Mr. Derrick Johnson.