Distribution of improved cookstoves begins to mitigate climate change impact in Ghana

President Akufo-Addo has launched a project to distribute 5,000 improved cookstoves at a ceremony in Akuse, Eastern Region

Wilberforce Asare October 26, 2020

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Low-fuel-use cookstoves — Some of the 5,000 improved cookstoves on display at the launch

President Akufo-Addo has launched a project to distribute 5,000 improved cookstoves at subsidised rates to households. The launch took place at a ceremony in Akuse, Eastern Region, on Monday 26 October 2020.

In October 2019, during the Second Africa Climate Change Summit in Accra, President Akufo-Addo spoke of how the effect of climate change is undermining Africa’s ability to grow and develop. He pledged his government’s commitment towards taking practical and proactive steps to mitigate the global impact of climate change.

A major programme of action by the Akufo-Addo government is the adoption of cleaner cooking solutions by scaling up the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in households, especially for cooking.

President Akufo-Addo greets chiefs of the Akuse Traditional Area at the ceremony

“I am happy to inform you that significant progress has been made, and very soon the programme for the LPG cylinder recirculation model, which will ensure wider use of LPG throughout the country, will be launched,” he said.

Partnership with Korea

The president continued, “Since it will be difficult to have all households switch to the use of LPG, in the short term, our strategy is to promote the use of two million improved and efficient wood-fuel stoves as an interim measure, until such time that all households eventually migrate to LPG or electricity as main cooking fuels.”

The president explained that the use of these improved and efficient charcoal stoves, coupled with ongoing reforestation programmes, has the potential to reduce significantly the emission of carbon dioxide and the rate of deforestation in the country.

He thanked the East-West Power Company, the Climate Change Center (CCC) and the South Korean government, for facilitating the project and providing grant funding of US$5.5 million to produce locally and distribute 500,000 improved charcoal stoves in Ghana in exchange for carbon credit to offset South Korea’s carbon dioxide emissions.

This, he said, is a win-win situation for the parties involved, and by far the largest certified emissions reduction intervention in Ghana and West Africa.

“The 500,000 improved cookstoves would be distributed to beneficiary households in all the 16 regions of the country, using the distribution systems adopted by the Government of Ghana and the Korean investors.

“This is just phase one. Phase two, which consists of another 500,000 units, is being developed for funding, so as to ensure that as many households as possible receive the improved cookstoves,” President Akufo-Addo said.

In all, it is expected that some one million tonnes of carbon dioxide savings will be realised over the project life, contributing to the improvement of Ghana’s overall carbon footprint.

New industry

“In terms of the creation of job opportunities, about 200 direct jobs have been created by this project alone in Ashaiman, Kokompe, Mobole, Achimota, Kasoa, Weija, Cape Coast and Kumasi, where artisans were engaged in the production of the various components of the stoves,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“This is expected to increase to some 1,000 direct jobs, as we scale up.”

He urged everyone working on the cookstoves project to do so diligently, so that “we can leverage investments to grow the cookstoves manufacturing industry, increase access to improved cooking solutions, and maximise the benefits for our socio-economic development”.

Click on the link to listen to President Akufo-Addo.