What's Happening?
Nigeria has made significant strides in providing clean cooking access, with an average of 5.4 million Nigerians gaining access annually between 2020 and 2024, the highest rate in Africa, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). This has led
to a 2.3 percentage point increase per year in the share of the population with access, ranking third on the continent. However, this progress is largely offset by rapid population growth, which adds approximately 4.8 million people annually. As a result, over two-thirds of the Nigerian population, or 168 million people, still rely on polluting fuels such as firewood, charcoal, and kerosene. Nigeria is the world's second-largest biomass-dependent nation after India, and household fuelwood consumption has consistently risen since 2019, reaching 34 million cubic meters in 2023. The country's efforts to transition to cleaner fuels have included policies promoting cooking gas and improved biomass cookstoves, and the 2021 Decade of Gas program aimed at expanding gas infrastructure.
Why It's Important?
The uneven progress in clean cooking access in Nigeria has significant implications for public health, the environment, and economic stability. Household air pollution from traditional cooking fuels is linked to approximately 2.9 million premature deaths globally each year, with Nigeria alone accounting for an estimated 131,000 premature deaths in 2019, including over 76,000 children under five. Women and children are disproportionately affected due to their increased exposure. Environmentally, the reliance on firewood and charcoal contributes to deforestation, with Nigeria losing about 240,000 hectares of natural forest in 2025 due to agricultural expansion and wood harvesting. Economically, the rising cost of cleaner alternatives like LPG, driven by factors such as the naira's devaluation and the removal of petrol subsidies, pushes more households back to cheaper, polluting fuels. This creates a cycle where poverty exacerbates environmental degradation and health issues, hindering sustainable development and increasing the burden on healthcare systems.
What's Next?
The Nigerian government is integrating electric cooking into its National Clean Cooking Policy to reduce dependence on firewood and charcoal. The Federal Ministry of Environment is developing funding proposals to attract public and private investment to address challenges such as affordability, inadequate infrastructure, limited consumer awareness, and weak market development. However, the effectiveness of these initiatives will depend on overcoming significant barriers. The practice of 'fuel stacking,' where households use multiple fuels and revert to cheaper, polluting options when clean fuels become unaffordable, highlights the need for sustained access and affordability rather than just initial access to clean cooking technologies. Addressing the rising costs of LPG, improving distribution infrastructure, especially in rural areas, and ensuring grid reliability for electric cookstoves will be crucial for meaningful progress. Without these systemic changes, many Nigerians, like Happiness Emmanuel, will continue to rely on traditional, polluting fuels due to economic constraints.
Beyond the Headlines
The situation in Nigeria underscores a broader challenge across sub-Saharan Africa, where population growth often outpaces progress in clean cooking access. The concept of 'access' versus 'sustained use' is a critical distinction; merely providing clean cooking technologies does not guarantee their continued adoption if economic and infrastructural barriers persist. This highlights the ethical dilemma of promoting cleaner energy solutions that remain inaccessible to the most vulnerable populations due to cost. The reliance on imported LPG, despite Nigeria being a major producer, exposes households to global price fluctuations, demonstrating a vulnerability in energy policy and infrastructure. The environmental impact extends beyond deforestation to climate change, as burning biomass releases greenhouse gases. The long-term shift required involves not just technological solutions but also comprehensive economic development, poverty reduction, and robust infrastructure investment to ensure that clean cooking is not just available, but also affordable and consistently usable for all citizens.
