Kemri to evaluate impact of using firewood on learners

Scientists from Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) are conducting a study to evaluate the impact cooking with wood in schools might be having on the learners and staff.

The research spearheaded by the University of Liverpool and Kemri will employ mixed-methods research and advanced air pollution monitoring.

There is concern that the use of firewood in schools might be affecting the health and cognitive ability of the learners.

The aim is to evaluate the impact of the clean cooking initiative on the health of cooks, teachers and students as well as educational attainment.

In Kenya, more than 90 per cent of schools depend on environmentally harmful wood fuel for cooking, with atypical boarding schools consuming 250 tonnes annually.

This practice results in high levels of particulate matter that are detrimental to health, significantly exceeding World Health Organisation guideline levels.

This exposure extends beyond school kitchens, infiltrating classrooms and playgrounds.

Dr James Mwitari on Wednesday said the experts are looking at respiratory disease change, cognitive performance of students and changes in pollutants.

"Ninety per cent of schools are using wood fuel to run their kitchens and these kitchens there are cooks there who are staying there for very many hours, we have children who are being exposed in their classrooms as well as in the dormitories and the playgrounds," Mwitari said.

Mwitari is a senior research fellow of environmental health at Kemri and Co-director Clean-Air (Africa) project.

Mwitari said that every one tonne of burnt wood produces 1.8 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide which causes global warming when it gets to the atmosphere.

The project also seeks to improve forest cover as it will reduce logging and also help the government to achieve the plan to achieve a full transition to clean energy by 2025.

Through the project, researchers from Kemri will be able to take measurements of air pollution in the kitchens, dormitories and playgrounds.

The target is to cover 300 schools across 47 counties but with more focus on the Nairobi Metropolitan area.

"We have found that in the schools where we have taken the measurements of air pollution, we have found that the air pollution in those areas whether in the kitchen, dormitory or in the playground is in excess by more than 85 times of the safe guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation," Mwitari said.

The medic has noted that schools with high levels of pollution as a result of cooking with firewood are witnessing absenteeism of students and cooks since they are always sick from exposure.

"We are also doing a study to see whether this air pollution among children is affecting cognitive performance," he noted.

Kenya loses around 23,000 people annually as a result of indoor air pollution.

According to the medic, pollution both indoors and outdoors has been associated in a few studies with development type 2 even though it is commonly associated with eating habits and lifestyle.

"The other association which we have had in a few of our studies and that is what we want to confirm within this project in the schools is the cognitive performance," he said.

A study which was conducted in India found that children living in a household polluted are more at risk of performing poorly in education than those enjoying an environment with low pollution.

Air pollution has also been associated with low birth weight among pregnant mothers, the medic said.

The study which was done in Ghana showed clearly that children born from pollution were born weighing less than 160 grammes, which translates to about two chicken eggs.

"We know air pollution has been associated with other cancers such as lung cancers," he said.

Professor Dan Pope said the partnership provides an opportunity to document the health, environmental and educational gains that can be achieved for schools converting to clean and modern cooking.

"The ambitious scale of the Equity Clean Cooking Initiative will provide a template across East Africa where the majority of schools rely on substantial quantities of polluting fuel wood for their catering needs,” Pope said.

Pope is a Professor of Global Public Health at the University and Director of the NIHR GlobalHealth Research Unit on CLEAN-Air (Africa).

The clean energy research initiative was launched in 2022 to address the burden of non-communicable diseases caused by household air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Clean Air Africa Initiative is a collaborative initiative between Kemri and the University of Liverpool and funded by the UK National Institute for Health (NIRH).

"As an institute, we are strongly committed towards the objectives of this project that seeks to evaluate the health impacts of transitioning schools from reliance on wood fuel to clean cooking with Liquefied Petroleum Gas [LPG]," Kemri Director General Prof Elijah Songok said.

The initiative to evaluate the health impacts of transitioning schools from reliance on wood fuel to clean cooking with LPG is being done in collaboration with Equity Group Foundation.

Equity has been facilitating schools to transition to clean cooking with LPG in Kenya.

Through the partnership, Equity will build the capacity of institutions to transition to clean cooking and will also work closely with the CLEAN-Air Africa team to measure health impacts before and after the transition in institutions across Kenya.

It will further support in dissemination of the study findings to relevant stakeholders with a key target to policy makers to influence policies.