The Burden and Effects of Cooking Fuels Usage on Women in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Afao-Ekiti, Nigeria
Abstract
This paper examines the burden and health effects of cooking fuels in Afao Ekiti, Nigeria. Primary data collected through the administration of structured questionnaires were used for the analysis. The results show that firewood is the fuel used intensively, and women trekked an average of 5 to 10km to collect it. Also, the result shows that most of the respondents who suffer from symptoms of diseases were women. In addition, most of the women who suffer from the reported cases of diseases were women from households who cooked with firewood or kerosene. In addition, most of the respondents were not willing to switch to the use of LPG for cooking because of its unavailability, cost of LPG, and the level of illiteracy in the use of LPG equipment. It is therefore recommended that there is the need for policy makers to embark on awareness campaign to educate rural dwellers on the proper use of LPG equipment, and on the health effects of various cooking fuel types.
References
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[2] Agrawal, S. and Yamamoto, S. 2015. Effect of indoor air pollution from biomass and solid fuel combustion on symptoms of preeclampsia/eclampsia in Indian women. Indoor air, 25(3): 341-352. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12144
[3] Akomolafe, J. K., and Ogunleye, E. O. 2017. Determinants of Cooking Fuel Choices in Urban Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, 8(1): 168-182. DOI:10.14505/jemt.v8.1(17).17
[4] Alemayehu, M., Alemu, K., Sharma, H. R., Gizaw, Z., and Shibru, A. 2014. Household Fuel Use and Acute Respiratory Infections in Children under Five Years of Age in Gondar City of Ethiopia. J Environ Earth Sci, 4: 77-86.
[5] Banzaert, A. and Winter, A. 2013. Design of Agricultural Waste Charcoal Cooking Fuel for Developing Countries. In ASME 2013 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (pp. V004T05A035-V004T05A035). American Society of Mechanical Engineers. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2013-12219
[6] Birol, F. 2007. Energy Economics: A Place For Energy Poverty In the Agenda? The Energy Journal, 1-6. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol28-No3-1
[7] Chafe, Z. A., et al. 2014. Household cooking with solid fuels contributes to ambient PM2. 5 air pollution and the burden of disease. Environmental health perspectives, 122(12): 1314-1320. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206340
[8] Foell, W., Pachauri, S., Spreng, D., and Zerriffi, H. 2011. Household Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies. Energy Policy, 39(12): 7487-7496. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.08.016
[9] Frischer, T. 2015. Effects of outdoor pollutants on the respiratory health of children. Wiener medizinischeWochenschrift (1946), 165(17-18): 343-346. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-015-0380-7
[10] International Energy Agency (IEA, 2012). World Energy Outlook 2012, Paris
[11] International Energy Agency (IEA, 2014). Africa Energy Outlook 2014. OECD/IEA: London
[12] International Energy Agency (IEA, 2016). World Energy Outlook 2016, Paris
[13] James, H. K., and Satoshi, N. (2007). Effects of Cooking Fuels on Acute Respiratory Infections in Children. Int. J Environ Res Public Health, 4(4): 283-288. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph200704040003
[14] Johnson, P. et al. 2011. Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in rural women of Tamilnadu: implications for refining disease burden assessments attributable to household biomass combustion. Global health action, 4(1): 7226. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v4i0.7226
[15] Kumar, R., et al. 2008. Impact of domestic air pollution from cooking fuel on respiratory allergies in children in India. Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology, 26(4): 213.
[16] Kumar, R., et al. 2015. Pollutant levels at cooking place and their association with respiratory symptoms in women in a rural area of Delhi-NCR. Indian J Chest Dis Allied Sci, 57(4): 225-31.
[17] Lakshmi, P. V. M. et al. 2012. Biomass fuel and risk of tuberculosis: a case–control study from Northern India. J Epidemiol Community Health, 66(5): 457-461. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2010.115840
[18] Levine, J.A., et al. 2001. The Work Burden of Women. Science, 294(5543): 812-812.
[19] MbatchouNgahane, B. H., et al. 2015. Effects of Cooking Fuel Smoke on Respiratory Symptoms and Lung Function in Semi-Rural Women In Cameroon. International journal of occupational and environmental health, 21(1): 61-65. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1179/2049396714Y.0000000090
[20] Ndwiga, T., Kei, R. M., Jepngetich, H., and Korrir, K. 2014. Assessment of Health Effects Related to the Use of Biomass Fuel and Indoor Air Pollution in Kapkokwon Sub-Location, Bomet Country, Kenya. Open Journal of Air Pollution, 3(03): 61-69.
[21] Nie, P., Sousa-Poza, A., and Xue, J. 2016. Fuel for Life: Domestic Cooking Fuels and Women’s Health in Rural China. International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(8), 810: 1-22. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13080810
[22] Olojede, A. A., Adekunle, A. A., and Samuel, E. A. 2013. Analysis of Rural Literacy as a Panacea for Socio-Economy Development of Nigeria. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 5(9): 381-390. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5897/IJSA2013.0465
[23] Ouedraogo, B. 2006. Household Energy Preferences for cooking in Urban Ouagadougou Burkina Faso. Energy policy, 34: 3787 – 3795. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2005.09.006
[24] Oyedepo, S. O. 2012. Energy and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Way Forward. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 2(1), 15. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/2192-0567-2-15
[25] Pachauri, S., Rao, N. D., Nagai, Y., and Riahi, K. 2012. Access to Modern Energy: Assessment and Outlook for Developing and Emerging Regions. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria
[26] Parikh, J. 2011. Hardships and Health Impacts on Women Due To Traditional Cooking Fuels: A case study of Himachal Pradesh, India. Energy Policy, 39(12): 7587-7594. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.05.055
[27] Po, J. Y., FitzGerald, J. M., and Carlsten, C. 2011. Respiratory disease associated with solid biomass fuel exposure in rural women and children: systematic review and meta-analysis. Thorax, 66(3): 232-239. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1136/thx.2010.147884
[28] Rehfuess, E. A., Tzala, L., Best, N., Briggs, D. J., and Joffe, M. 2009. Solid Fuel Use And Cooking Practices As A Major Risk Factor For ALRI Mortality Among African Children. Journal of Epidemiology &Community Health, 63(11): 887-892. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2008.082685
[29] Rehfuess, E., Mehta, S., and Prüss-Üstün, A. 2006. Assessing Household Solid Fuel Use: Multiple Implications for the Millennium Development Goals. Environmental Health Perspectives, 373-378. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.8603
[30] Sehgal, M., Rizwan, S. A., and Krishnan, A. 2014. Disease burden due to biomass cooking-fuel-related household air pollution among women in India. Global health action, 7(1), 25326. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.25326
[31] Singh, A. L., and Jamal, S. 2012. A Study of Risk Factors Associated With Indoor Air Pollution In the Low Income Households In Aligarh City, India. EJ Environ Res Manage.[Internet]. Jan, 3(1): 1-8.
[32] Smith, K. R. 2000. National burden of disease in India from indoor air pollution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(24): 13286-13293. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.24.13286
[33] Smith, K. R., Samet, J. M., Romieu, I., and Bruce, N. 2000. Indoor Air Pollution in Developing Countries and Acute Lower Respiratory Infections in Children. Thorax, 55(6): 518-532. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/thorax.55.6.518
[34] Sukhsohale, N. D., Narlawar, U. W., and Phatak, M. S. 2013. Indoor air pollution from biomass combustion and its adverse health effects in central India: an exposure-response study. Indian journal of community medicine: official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine, 38(3): 162 - 167. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.116353
[35] Torres-Duque, C. et al. 2008. Biomass Fuels and Respiratory Diseases: A Review of The Evidence. Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society, 5(5): 577-590.
[36] World Health Organization. 2005. WHO Air Quality Guidelines Global Update 2005. Copenhagen: World Health Organization
[37] World Health Organization. 2015. Indoor Smoke from Solid Fuel Use: Assessing the Environmental Burden of Disease. Environmental Burden of Disease Series, No. 4, WHO
Published
2020-04-20
How to Cite
AKOMOLAFE, Kehinde John; YUSUF, Elizabeth.
The Burden and Effects of Cooking Fuels Usage on Women in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Afao-Ekiti, Nigeria.
Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 11, n. 1, p. 202-214, apr. 2020.
ISSN 2068-7729.
Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/4598>. Date accessed: 26 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14505//jemt.v11.1(41).23.
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Article
Copyright© 2023 The Author(s). Published by ASERS Publishing 2023. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of CC-BY 4.0 license.