Killer Smoke in Kenya

Millions of rural families in sub-Saharan Africa and Kenya depend on biomass for domestic cooking. These fuels consist mostly of wood, dried dung, and crop residues that produce high levels of smoke. Exposure to this smoke can lead to serious health hazards including pneumonia and chronic lung disease. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 600,000 women worldwide die prematurely every year as a result of such smoke exposure. The persons most affected are mothers and their children who work in these kitchens. Attempts to reduce kitchen indoor air pollution have focused on the introduction of more fuel efficient cooking stoves that create more heat and less smoke. However, these stoves have not been adopted widely because they are relatively complex to use and they cost more than poor families can afford. An analysis of kitchen indoor air pollution was carried and followed up by the development of a new ergonomic kitchen design that can reduce indoor smoke build-up by 75%. The design solution is simple and inexpensive and does not require changes in the use of traditional biomass fuels. The study utilized simulations that were carried out on scale models representing kitchens in rural Kenya. The paper describes the research methodology used, the new kitchen design solution and the strategy suggested for implementing such a new design solution in Kenya and other parts of the world.