BBC World Service South Asia

Global Business

Factual: Money

Insights into the business world from the BBC.

Global Business: Clean cooking in Rwanda

Clean Cooking in Rwanda

28/12/2019 GMT

Clean cooking in Rwanda

BBC World Service - Global Business, Clean cooking in Rwanda

We meet the companies trying to give women a cleaner and safer cooking environment.

Millions of women in Rwanda cook over wooden fires, sitting in smoky conditions which damage their health. We meet the companies trying to create a safer cooking environment.

More than seventy percent of households in Rwanda cook over wooden and charcoal fires. This means women often sit for hours every day in smoky conditions which can damage their health, increasing the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease, strokes and lung cancer. These traditional cooking methods are also the cause of widespread deforestation. 
 
The Rwandan government is aiming to halve the number of people using these cooking fuels in the next six years. They're investing in infrastructure and offering tax incentives to try and support businesses to entice customers to other products which could give them a cleaner and safer way to cook. 
 
In other countries who’ve made this move though, changing from traditional stoves to modern clean cooking took the best part of a century - can that really be achieved here in just six years? 
 
Producer/Presenter: Kate Lamble 

Picture: Lady cooking meal in pan over an open fire in Rwanda
Credit: Wayne Hutchinson/Farm Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Global Business

Clean cooking in Rwanda

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service