Campaign for use of gas as fuel, NGO making progress
NAN-AE-7
Gas
By Veronica Dariya
Bwari (Abuja), Jan. 9, 2018 (NAN) Africare, a US-based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), said on Tuesday that about 90 people in Lagos and Abuja have started using gas fuel to cook following the organisation’s two months campaign.
Dr Doherty Orode, Africare’s Country Representative in Nigeria, disclosed the progress to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to her, while some women in various communities within the states have engaged in using the fuel against kerosene, firewood and charcoal, others have started saving their income towards doing same.
“What we have seen is that the people have synonymously said that gas is the way.
“We have in two months gone to over 9, 000 homes in both Lagos and Abuja and within these 60 days, 90 people have started using gas fuel to cook.
“Another few hundreds have started saving towards it; they have formed cooperatives within the period of the campaign and we believe that the more people see their efforts, the more they will decide to switch over.”
Orode also urged gas fuel users to ensure that they buy the product and the cylinders from major marketers and distributors whose names are on the cylinders to ensure safety.
This, she said, was to avoid buying cylinders with leakages or other related problems, saying that the people can return the product to the vendor when any problem is detected.
She also explained that the organisation is assisting members of rural communities to prioritize their health and that of their children and their environment at large.
“Nigeria has lost more than 50 per cent of her primary forests to desertification in the north, erosion and flooding in the south; we are helping them understand how their activities impact their environment.
“They need to know how something as critical as cooking with firewood or charcoal can lead to death from health implications.
“It is our desire to cover the entire country,” she said.
NAN reports that Africare is a US-based organisation, which seeks to address African development and policy issues to build sustainable, healthy and productive communities.
The organsiastion’s “Upgrade to gas” campaign is being funded by the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to increase awareness, adoption and use of LPG cookstoves among households in Nigeria. (NAN)
DVK/AFA
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Edited by Felix Ajide