Traditional three stone cooking Jiko at one of the learning institutions in Nakuru. [File, Standard]
How traditional cooking claims 26,000 lives annually
Health & Science
By
Marion Kithi
| Sep 07, 2025
Eli Odhiambo, national coordinator at Clean Cooking Association of Kenya said that Kilifi is among the counties most affected with 76 percent of households using the traditional cooking methods.
Most households in Kilifi county use the traditional three-stone firewood cooking method with experts now warning that the smoke that emanates from kitchens carries a deadly cocktail of air pollutants.
Odhiambo noted that Kenya records over one million Disability-Adjusted-Life-Years (DALYs) due to diseases related to Household Air Pollution (HAP) such as respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.
''Household air pollution exposure leads to non-communicable diseases including stroke, ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney problems, cancer and even affects mental health and cognitive performance,'' Odhiambo said.
"Indoor air pollution is not just about coughing. Our studies show it causes respiratory disease, heart conditions, kidney problems, cancers and even affects mental health and cognitive performance, " he added.
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He noted that the fuels release harmful pollutants like PM2.5, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, which not only degrade human health but also contribute to climate change.
These include respiratory problems and heart-related illnesses which continue to affect people in homes and schools using unsafe cooking fuels.
The situation is even more serious in schools, where over 97 percent are still using polluting fuels to prepare meals, putting both learners and staff at risk.
“A boarding school uses 200 to 500 tonnes of wood every year. No wood, no meals, no education. This leads to deforestation, frequent disruption in learning due to energy insecurity, and a health crisis brewing among students,” he said.
Odhiambo urged locals to embrace use of improved jikos to reduce climate change.
He said the agency, through other stakeholders, has come up with key strategies including the Community Health Household Air Pollution Prevention Programme (CHAP-PP), which empowers community health workers with the knowledge and tools to educate households about clean cooking.
The programme includes a special training module, module 14, focused on household air pollution and also runs the Table-HAP initiative, which works through table banking groups to promote awareness and encourage a shift in behavior.
Traditional three stone cooking Jiko. [Courtesy]
''We have also trained youths on clean cooking technologies like biomass stoves which use charcoal and briquettes,'' he said.
"We are also planning to train the youths on electric cooking appliances repairs so that they can employ themselves and generate income from this initiative," he added.
Kilifi county also has briquettes machines in different Technical and Vocation Education and Training Institutions (Tvets) in every sub county which they train youths and women on briquettes making.
The county has recently developed a clean cooking energy policy.
“As a county government, we have developed our county energy plan 2024–2034 and our clean cooking policy 2025. These plans are aligned with the national government’s goals of achieving universal clean cooking by the year 2030,” Wilfred Baya, Kilifi county director for Energy.
Baya urged households, especially women who bear the brunt of traditional cooking methods, to embrace change.
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