Tanzania Launches Clean Cooking Energy Strategy
DAR ES SALAAM: – Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan launched Wednesday a ‘National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy’ in apparent attempt to deliberately protect and preserve the precious environment.
The Tanzania leader has committed to transform the nation, from using firewood and charcoal to clean cooking energy, setting a target of converting 80 per cent of the population by 2030.
Speaking at the launching ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Dr Samia emphasized the decades-long (2024-2034) strategy will provide national guidance for all stakeholders to ensure the country achieves its 2030 clean cooking energy target.
The National Environment Management Council (NEMC), the environment watchdog authority, welcomed the initiative. But the president wants the private sector in the country to increase investment and accessibility of clean cooking energy in various areas nationwide.
“We need simple technologies that will enable citizens to access clean energy according to their capabilities and pay according to their usage,” she said. Adding: “Our development vision cannot be realized if 90 percent of our compatriots still rely on environmentally unfriendly energy sources for cooking.”
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said the new strategy will be a vital tool in fostering collective and inclusive efforts to achieve environmental conservation goals.
Government records estimate that approximately 469,000 hectares of forests are lost each year, with firewood and charcoal being major contributors to such deforestation.
The government believes that the general public must also be responsible by changing their perceptions regarding clean energy such as gas usage. The misconceptions include the claim that food cooked on gas stoves taste differently.
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Zanzibar’s Minister for Water, Energy, and Minerals, Hassan Kaduara, highlighted that the Isles is currently exploring natural gas options in an attempt to adopt a clean energy source saying the move will help improve environmental protections.
“We don’t want to entertain environmental degradation in Zanzibar. We are preparing for gas extraction and we have been working with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Energy, among other experts, to discuss how we can move forward from this crisis,” the Minister said.
Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President (Union and Environment), Selemani Jafo, expressed the government commitment to implementing the clean cooking energy strategy to safeguard both people and the environment.
