TITLE:
Evaluation of the Cooking Cultures and Practices in Rural Uganda
AUTHORS:
Hussein Kisiki Nsamba, Robert Ssali, Sarah N. Ssali, Fahad Matovu, John Wasswa, Hussein Kivumbi Balimunsi
KEYWORDS:
Cooking, Fuel, Improved Cooking Stoves, Health
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems,
Vol.11 No.1,
March
22,
2021
ABSTRACT: Many communities across the globe still practice
poor cooking cultures as part of their well-being to prepare food and other
heating activities. Such bad cooking practices are not environmentally friendly,
are wasteful and have adverse health
effects. This work presents the results of the survey that was conducted to
establish the existing cooking practices commonly used in Uganda, identify the
commonly used fuel during cooking, identify perceptions on improved cooking
stoves (ICS), perceived preferences during cooking as well as identify whether
users are aware of the health challenges due to poor cooking and describe
community opinions of ICS for rural communities in Uganda. The interviews were
conducted on household levels across all the regions covering Uganda’s major
rural regions. It was observed that the largest population of rural Ugandans still use the 3 stone stove fire for cooking with
a percentage of 53.5%, Charcoal stove, 27.3%, Improved cooking stove, 16.9%,
Electric cookers,1.2%, LPG 0.7% and biogas 0.5% for the preparation of their various types of cooked foods while
forest firewood is the commonly used biomass fuel for cooking with a percentage
of 66.8% compared to Charcoal, Briquettes, Saw
dust and others with a percentage of 27.1%, 0.7%, 0.7%, 1.1%
respectively. This reveals the great majority of users whose life is at risk as
3 stone stoves are characterized by low efficiency and high smoke production
which increases the health risks of the users as well as increase the risk of
deforestation rates. Household cooks showed great willingness to pay for a
novel stove type in all the 4 regions but
from the survey data, it was indicated that the preferences varied from one
region to another with a great majority preferring minimal smoke production
with increased heat retention capacity. It was revealed that 91.4% of the
interviewed households were aware of the health challenges due to poor cooking
methods which they resolved by using
open space during cooking. There was variation in the quantity of food cooked
in a day, time spent on cooking and how
often the cooking is done from one region to another due to the difference in
economic activities as well as the different climate factors. While using
cooking stoves, users preferred large cooking pot space with minimal smoke
production and rapid heating. Such information can act as a basis for the design
of an improved cooking stove for the rural Ugandan community as engineered
products must be designed to suit the needs of the end-user.