Government should support clean cookstoves manufacturers

Accra, Sept 26, GNA - The SNV, Netherlands Development Organisation, has asked for increased government support for clean cookstoves manufacturers in Ghana.

Mr Eric Banye, the Country Programme Coordinator for SNV "Voice For Change (V4C) Partnership Programme", said increasing government's support to the cleancook sector would help reduce deforestation, which was the greatest environmental issue facing the country.

Mr Banye made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on the sideline of SNV V4C Partnership Programme meeting with clean cookstove manufacturers.

The dialogue, which was attended by representatives of 15 local clean cookstoves manufacturers, to identify issues that private sector players face and how stakeholders could collectively help address them to ensure the smooth operation of the clean cookstove sector.

It was also an opportunity for SNV and the manufacturers to engage and come out with key message on how government would support the cleancook sector.

Mr Banye noted that the challenges facing clean cookstoves manufacturers in the country run across all of them irrespective of their size of operations.

He cited the high cost of galvanised steel plates, which were being used in the production of the clean cookstoves, and high import duties; which according to him, government must do something about.

"We now have a better understanding of the issues that they are facing and we also have a collaborative way forward in terms of how we are going to address the sector challenges.

"For the Voice For Change, our interest basically is to ensure that we create an enabling environment where the private sector players like the manufacturers can produce affordable clean cookstoves that will be accessible to the rural populace," Mr Banye added.

He urged Ghanaians to adapt clean cooking technologies in their cooking systems; instead of the use of the traditional system, which had lots of health hazards and also contributed to global warming.

He said the use of clean cookstoves, would reduce the amount of charcoal and fuel woods; which would go a long way to contribute to the conservation of the nation's forest resources.

He said statistics shows that in Ghana, over 13,700 people die annually as a result of poor cooking habits.

He explained that the inhalation of smoke during cooking could be very dangerous to human health; adding that "cooking should not kill".

GNA

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