The launch of Safi Cookers.[Photo/Nation]
The Ministry of Environment has promised to campaign for the use of ethanol stoves in both rural and urban areas in an initiative aimed at curbing carbon emissions.
Principal Secretary Charles Sunkuli stated that the ministry is aware of the depletion of the environment due to the increased pollution and competition for natural resources.
Mr Sunkuli went ahead to state that the use of ethanol stoves will help reduce carbon emissions in the country by over 500,000 tonnes in the next five years.
The programme is supposed to promote a safe environment and refugees will benefit from a subsidy of 12,000 eco-friendly ethanol stoves that will be sold at the Kakuma refugee camp at Sh1,995 down from Sh4,000 per stove.
The “Safi cookers” use ethanol instead of charcoal hence benefiting households from an eco-friendly environment with less smoke while reducing their cooking fuel costs and cooking time.
Mr Sunkuli said that 80 percent of Kenyans who live in urban areas use charcoal to cook and this is negative on the households due to respiratory-related diseases as well as adverse effects on forest cover.
Around 10kg of wood is used to produce 1kg of charcoal straining on the country’s forests.
Samsung Electronics East Africa head of corporate marketing Patricia King’ori urged for urgent creation of a healthy environment.She noted that deforestation is a major crisis in the country.In 2015, it was estimated that Kenya was losing a shocking 5.6 million trees daily.