By Abass Mahmoud Sillah Jr
Sierra Leone is intensifying efforts to transition households from traditional biomass fuels to cleaner cooking solutions, with Minister of Energy Cyril Arnold Grant underscoring the urgent link between energy access, gender equality, and child protection. Delivering a policy statement at a high-level clean cooking initiative event, the Minister described the traditional cooking fire as “the center of interlocking inequalities” across Africa, where women and girls bear the heaviest burden. “Across the continent, the responsibility of gathering firewood and managing open fires falls primarily on women and girls,” Grant said.
“This consumes valuable hours that could otherwise be spent on education, income generation, or rest.” He noted that indoor air pollution from biomass fuels remains a silent killer, disproportionately affecting women and children. In many African countries, exposure to smoke from traditional cooking methods contributes to more deaths among women than some widely recognized diseases. “The kitchen, in this sense, is both a place of care and a site of chronic harm,” he stated. “When mothers suffer early deaths from respiratory illnesses, children face increased risks of poverty, neglect, and exploitation.”
The Minister emphasized that transitioning to clean fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or improved cookstoves delivers immediate and long-term benefits. “When households adopt clean cooking solutions, the ripple effects are profound,” he said. “Girls return to school, women regain productive time, family health improves, and the physical dangers associated with open fires are eliminated.” He stressed that these outcomes are not incidental but central to the clean cooking agenda. “Energy poverty is gender inequality, and gender inequality is a child protection issue,” Grant added.
Despite growing awareness, access to clean cooking in Sierra Leone remains extremely limited. The Minister revealed that more than 70 percent of households rely on firewood, while about 28 percent use charcoal. Less than one percent of the population currently uses LPG. “This reality presents both a challenge and an opportunity,” he said. “The health, environmental, and economic costs are significant—from premature deaths caused by indoor air pollution to widespread deforestation and the financial burden of fuel collection.” Sierra Leone’s clean cooking agenda is anchored in its National Energy Policy and the National Clean Cooking Strategy (2025–2035), which aim to shift the majority of urban and peri-urban households toward cleaner fuels.
The strategy outlines key priorities for expanding the LPG sector, including improving affordability through subsidies and pilot programs, expanding import and distribution infrastructure, introducing flexible cylinder financing models, strengthening safety regulations, increasing public awareness, and encouraging private sector investment. Grant acknowledged that affordability and access remain major barriers but said the government is committed to innovative solutions to accelerate adoption. The Minister described the launch of the clean cooking initiative as “a milestone, but also a beginning,” urging stakeholders to move swiftly from policy frameworks to practical implementation. “The scale of the clean cooking challenge in our region demands urgency, discipline, and sustained collaboration,” he said.
He reaffirmed Sierra Leone’s commitment to ensuring that clean cooking initiatives prioritize women and children, noting that any program that fails to do so “misreads its own purpose.” Grant concluded by framing the transition to clean cooking as both a development and justice issue. “The flame we seek to replace is not just inefficient—it is unjust,” he said. “Investing in clean cooking is investing in girls’ education, women’s economic empowerment, and the safety and well-being of our children.” With the rollout of new LPG-focused programs, Sierra Leone hopes to significantly expand access to clean cooking solutions over the next decade, transforming daily life for thousands of households while advancing broader national development goals.
