Federal Ministry of Environment and other key stakeholders have validated the Draft National Clean Cooking Policy during the Validation Workshop which held at Bolingo Xperia Hotel, Abuja, on 14th December.
The Workshop had all key stakeholders’ present virtually and in-person. The Policy among others will foster an enabling policy environment, strengthen supply and enhance demand for clean cooking solutions in Nigeria and support the federal government’s goal of universal energy access.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Charles Ikeah represented by Victoria Gyang Pwol, Deputy Director, Department of Climate Change during his opening remark mentioned that “Nigeria has made a firm commitment to expand access to clean cooking. By 2030, the country aims to provide access to LPG for 48% and improved biomass cookstoves to 13% of households”.
According to him, ‘Smoke inhalation is the 3rd highest killer of women and children in Nigeria. Despite the benefits of clean cooking solutions, the market is still under developed. This led the Ministry to take action that will spur the market, hence the development of the National Clean Cooking Policy which will serve as a framework in providing clean cooking solutions especially to the poor”.
She praised the International Centre for Energy, Environment & Development (ICEED), Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking, Heinrich Boell Foundation, and the Clean Cooking Alliance for their relentless efforts and support to the Ministry in expanding access to clean cooking solutions in Nigeria.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of ICEED, Mr. Ewah Eleri, acknowledged the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Environment and other MDAs for their commitment into the development of the draft National Clean Cooking Policy. He decried that clean cooking has been under prioritized in Nigeria for too long as an important policy area and expressed excitement that the validation of the policy will further support Nigeria’s commitment in ensuring the clean cooking industry develops a backbone for improving clean cooking solutions especially for women in Nigeria.
According to him, “I am full of gratitude today for the seriousness and dedication of the National Clean Cooking Committee that have been working and driving the process, and at the same time I extend gratitude to the Federal Ministry of Environment for providing the leadership and institutional framework for driving the policy development process”.
He further stated that “It was not too long that we use to say clean cooking was like an orphan, everybody claims clean cooking but it had no home, but today, clean cooking has its own home in the Federal Ministry of Environment”.
He concluded by saying “we do not want a policy that remains a policy on paper. We want a policy that has an implementation plan as well as a monitoring and evaluation plan, so progress can be measured”.
The Country Director of Heinrich Boell Foundation, Jochen Luckscheiter, in his goodwill message, hinted that his organisation decided to support ICEED when they realized in 2020 that clean cooking was not given the needed attention required as it was not in the policy radar, but today “I am excited to see the progress we have made and I am really proud of the work” he said. He thanked the Federal Ministry of Environment for their commitment and leadership towards the development of the Draft National Clean Cooking Policy which will provide consistent, coherent and coordinated measures to strengthen the supply chain and expand the demand for clean cooking fuels and technologies in Nigeria.
In his goodwill message, Colm Fay, Senior Director, Market Strengthening Team, Clean Cooking congratulated ICEED, the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cooking for taking up the issue of clean cooking and putting it into its programming. He reiterated the commitment of his organisation to supporting the clean cooking processes in Nigeria. According to him” achieving the Energy Transition Plan requires a robust and inclusive clean cooking policy”.
He further commended the efforts of all stakeholders involved in the policy development process and look forward to the finalization of the policy and presentation to the Federal Executive Council for approval, development of an implementation plan and monitoring plan that pave the way to achieving Nigeria’s clean cooking ambition.
While presenting the Draft National Clean Cooking Policy, the National Coordinator of NDC Partnership, Huzi Mshelia stressed that the overall goal of the National clean cooking policy is to provide strategic direction for increasing access to clean cooking energy and technologies in Nigeria. He gave a background to the development of the policy document which include the hosting of several consultative meetings; webinar on lessons/knowledge sharing and comparative analysis of similar policies in other jurisdictions like Kenya, Mozambique, and Uganda; presentation and discussions on the draft policy at the Nigerian Clean Cooking Forum 2022; consultations at the Global Clean Cooking Forum in Accra, Ghana; experts contributions from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, LPG Expansion Implementation Programme in the Office of the Vice President, UK High Commission, Clean Cooking Alliance, Project Gaia, Energy Commission of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, National Assembly among others as well as some private sector players and CSOs.
The presentation was followed by discussions on the policy. After consensus by all stakeholders’ that it should be validated. Ahmed Tijjani of Energy Commission moved the motion for its validation. This was seconded by Risikat Molid, Chief Executive Officer, Women with Disability Self Reliant Foundation.
The Draft National Clean Cooking Policy will foster an enabling policy environment, strengthen supply and enhance demand for clean cooking solutions in Nigeria. It will be presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval early next year, after which an implementation plan will be developed.