Season 4 episode 5 - LPG: the recipe for cleaner cooking in Kenya

Judith Kowuoche, B2B LPG Manager:

It’s one of the things Chama is about is food. Today I’m cooking for my Chama members with LPG. LPG stands for liquefied petroleum gas. The burning of wood and charcoal are very harmful to humans. LPG is an alternative to solid fuel and it deposits low amount of carbon.

Being able to cook without polluting the air is so important to me and to the next generations of my family too.

I work for Total Energies in Nairobi, helping people transition to LPG. I love my job. I get to meet different people, I get to meet different customers. It makes me happy when I see them using LPG. The government plans to transition nearly four and a half million people from using kerosene and charcoal to LPG by 2028.

The effects of Woodfield are horrible, especially to children. In Kenya, there are about 23,000 deaths per year related to respiratory infections. LPG when it burns, it doesn’t make any soot or smoke, and it emits low amounts of carbon.

One of my favorite clients is Marian’s school. They were using wood fuel. I managed to transition them to LPG. They’re much happier because the walls were full of soot, but now they’re all smiley and happy.

Mike Wanjohi, Operations Manager Marion Farmhouse School:

In terms of health, I would say it’s much better. Our kitchen staff are much happier than before.

Catherine Mueni, Chef Marion Farmhouse School:

It’s perfect because you know when you’re cooking you can be able to reduce the light, the fire and also you can be able to know which food needs a lot of heat. So it’s really nice.

At least now we have relaxed, even our skin colour has changed. Oh yeah, I can see you’re glowing.

Judith Kowuoche:

Donnattah is the LPG depot manager. She’s a friend of mine and a close colleague.

Donnattah Khadambi, LPG Plant Manager TotalEnergies:

Over the last seven years, the LPG demand has doubled. We have an ambition of reaching 100 million customers in Africa and India by the year 2030. Our mission is to ensure that all households are using LPG as the main fuel.

Judith Kowuoche:

Women have been disadvantaged for very many years. For example, when they use wood fuel, they take a lot of time to go collecting the fuel.

If that use LPG, that time will be cut to almost nil. We have an app called Easy Gas. If you run out of gas, you’re able to get the gas at the touch of a button. I love Chama because it’s a time that we come to spend together. Today I’m going to be cooking with LPG for my Chama members, so I’ll be able to spend quality time with them and not spend a lot of time using wood fuel. So transitioning to LPG is helping empowering women and knowing we’ve done a little bit, help improve the lives of people in Nairobi and to make the world a better place too.