The Director of Clean Cooking Energy, Mr. Nolasco Mlay and Experts from the Ministry of Energy have begun a working visit to Mwanza with the aim of inspecting the implementation of the Government’s order for Institutions feeding more than 100 people to use Clean Cooking Energy.
The visit began by inspecting three Secondary Schools in Ilemela Municipality that have started using Clean Cooking Energy after benefiting from the CookFund project through the international program Integrated Approach to Sustainable Clean Cooking Solution implemented by the United Nations Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with the European Union (EU).
The visit also aims to assess the use of Clean Cooking Energy by institutions receiving funding from the CookFund project.
Speaking during the visit, Mr. Nolasco Mlay said that the visit is part of the implementation of the National Strategy for the Use of Clean Energy for Cooking (2024–2034), which aims to ensure that public institutions, including schools, use safe and environmentally friendly technology in cooking.
In ensuring that the Government’s directive is implemented successfully, Mr. Mlay has urged Council and Municipal Directors whose institutions in their areas have not yet moved away from the use of unhygienic cooking energy to ensure that they implement the National Strategy for the Use of Clean Energy for Cooking.
“Public and Private Institutions in your areas such as Schools, Hospitals, Prisons and the Army should use safe and environmentally friendly technology in cooking to avoid health and environmental impacts on the country”, said Mr. Mlay
In parallel, Mr. Mlay has urged Teachers and School Principals to be at the forefront of educating students on the benefits of using clean energy for cooking so that they can become ambassadors to educate others.
“We urge teachers to guide students on the use of natural gas, smart stoves and electricity as alternatives to firewood and charcoal because when these children learn, they will help change the attitudes of their communities from the use of dirty energy to using clean cooking energy”, said, Mr. Mlay
Speaking on behalf of the Secondary Education Officer of Ilemela Municipality, the Special Education Officer of the Municipality commended the implementation of the Clean Cooking Energy Strategy that is underway in Ilemela Municipality, promising that the Municipality will continue to implement the directive where currently there are already ten schools that are on the clean cooking energy plan.
Head Teachers of the inspected Schools have stated that the use of clean cooking energy has helped cooking activities to be carried out in a friendly and safe environment, saving time and being affordable.
Experts from the Ministry of Energy visited schools that have not yet started using clean cooking energy and urged the leaders of those schools that rely on firewood and charcoal to start improving their cooking systems and move to the use of clean cooking energy.
The three schools visited in Ilemela Municipality that use Clean Cooking Energy include Bwiru Secondary Boys’ Technical School, Bwiru Secondary Girls’ School and Buswelu Secondary School.
