Kamani urges youth to support clean cooking strategy

DAR ES SALAAM: NATIONAL Youth Representative, Member of Parliament Ms Ng’wasi Kamani has urged youth across the country to be at the front line in implementation of the National Clean Cooking Strategy intending to safeguard the future by mitigating climate change.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the “Daily News” on Tuesday, Ms Kamani underlined the importance of youth in supporting the National Clean Cooking Strategy which target to ensure eco-friendly cooking reaches 80 per cent by 2034 from the current 10 per cent in the country.

She noted that youth are most vulnerable to climate change effects including global warming, drought and floods both in the short term and long term, a pressing challenge which demand their fully dedications towards mitigation.

The National Clean Cooking Strategy was launched in May this year by President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan to accelerate the country’s transition to clean cooking encompassing gas and electricity use.

The transformative strategy is rooted on ending unclean cooking including firewood and charcoal which for many years have been culminating into deforestation, depletion of ozone layer and climate change while posing negative impacts including lung cancer to health of users as they emit toxic gases such as carbon monoxide.

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Studies show that unclean cooking kills 33,000 people per year in the country.

“The government has done enough in creating awareness on clean cooking and improvement of clean energy infrastructure, it is up to us to ensure we fully support the clean cooking strategy,” Ms Kamani.

However, she advised the government to come up with other strategies which will substantially reduce price of gas due to the large number of users available.

She said such move will enable the government leverage the economies of scale by lowering gas prices into more affordable rate while increasing its production.

Furthermore, she urged the government to strengthen access to biogas plants in efforts of diversifying the clean cooking energy mix from which many youth can afford clean cooking.

She called upon the National Clean Cooking Strategy also to engage youth in reforestation and afforestation in order to restore the climate into normalcy.

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In supporting the government’s transition to clean cooking by actions, Ms Kamani recently provided 47 gas cylinders to the ruling CCM Youth Wing’s leaders  at district and regional level in Mwanza Region.

She urged the CCM Youth Wing’s leaders to equally support the country’s clean cooking strategy by actions.

The National Youth Policy of 2007 defines youth as all persons aged 15 to 35 years.

According to the 2022 Census’s report, the proportion of people aged 15 to 35 years forms over 30 per cent of the country’s population which is about 61 million.