Firewood as a Traditional Energy Source in Nigeria

Because of the usage of wood for cooking, many Nigerian women experience health problems. According to research, using firewood causes the deaths of over thousands of women from Nigeria. Imagine, making use of firewood to prepare in a day—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—is equivalent to consuming three to twenty packs of cigarettes in just one day, for me I think that's too much smoke to inhale.

Growing up as a kid, my family, my family was able to avoid kerosene stove used for cooking and other cooking options like electric cooker which uses electricity and gas cooker too. So cooking for us depends on the kind of food and also quantity to be cooked. We use firewoods only for large-scale culinary tasks, especially during the Christmas celebrations, ceremonial occasions and it is usually done outside where there is enough space and enough ventilation.

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In Nigeria, firewood is generally used by everyone, because is affordable. In some areas you can find people making use of it on a daily basis. Also, firewoods makes profit for some people by selling or one can go into the woods and cut some for themselves. It's really kind of stressful doing this each day but some are used to it already.

Apart from the daily challenges and difficulties women encounter in obtaining enough firewood to fulfill daily cooking activities, the emission of smoke and pollution from their open-fire places provide serious health risks.

Many women are certainly exposed to smoking and pollutants while trying to provide for their families; these substances are linked to an extensive range of health issues, among them are birth weight reduction, cancer of the lungs, pneumonia, and visual impairment. Some women make an effort to avoid the smoking fire when cooking since they are aware of the harmful effects of utilizing firewood for cooking.

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There is an immediate need to raise awareness about the use of everyday firewood cooking activities and provide access to clean, safe, and reasonably priced cooking choices for everyone. So that everyone can live healthy.