According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 2.6 billion people, mainly in Africa, continue to cook with dirty fuels on traditional appliances, that cause significant damage to health, particularly for women and children who spend most of their times at home, and for the environment at large.
The Uganda National Alliance for Clean Cooking (UNACC) estimated in 2012, that only 7% of the population were using clean and efficient cook stoves. Similarly, the institutions in Uganda such as schools, health centres, prisons, commercial buildings and restaurants, primarily rely on traditional cooking technologies such as three stone stoves, open fires etc. (Government of Uganda, 2001).
The most prevalent form of cooking fuel in the schools of Uganda is wood with 96% of the schools using it as their main cooking fuel, followed by charcoal with 4% of the schools (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2013).
That is why we are proud to report that during the year 2023, with Simoshi’s intervention supporting schools in their transition to acquiring institutional improved cook stoves (IICS), 95,315 children and school staff enjoyed from a cleaner and healthier environment.
Throughout 2023, 105 schools replaced the traditional 3-stone fires with 376 IICS of different saucepan capacities, resulting in 20,857 boarding students and 78,050 day students and kitchen staff directly being positively impacted with the reduction on firewood consumption and the installation of chimney pipes that ensure the remaining smoke from the firewood combustion is ventilated safely outdoors.
93,315 children and cooks
Enjoyed a smoke-free kitchen environment during 2023