The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC), Dr. Riverson Oppong, has cautioned that Ghana’s clean cooking efforts could stall if the country does not build reliable liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refill infrastructure alongside cylinder distribution programmes.
Speaking during a public lecture in Accra on energy sovereignty and Africa’s place in the global energy transition, Dr. Oppong said access to gas cylinders alone was not sufficient to sustain cleaner fuel adoption in homes.
“Distributing gas cylinders without reliable refill infrastructure forces households back to charcoal,” he said, highlighting a practical bottleneck in the current clean cooking strategy.
Charcoal Still Dominates Ghanaian Kitchens
Recent research shows that charcoal remains the primary cooking fuel for a vast majority of households in Ghana, underlining the scale of the challenge.
According to the 2024 Ghana Social Development Outlook report by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), about 77% of Ghanaian households still rely on charcoal and firewood for cooking, with only about 28.7% using cleaner energy such as LPG or electricity, a slow transition that reflects gaps in infrastructure, affordability and awareness.
Other reports estimate that approximately 75% of Ghana’s population, nearly 26 million people, depend on solid biomass fuels like charcoal and firewood, a dependence described by stakeholders as a looming public health and environmental crisis.
Health Risks Linked to Charcoal Use
Charcoal and biomass cooking are associated with significant health risks, especially in poorly ventilated homes. According to data compiled by the Clean Cooking Alliance, indoor smoke from traditional cooking fuels contributes to an estimated 13,000 deaths annually in Ghana, with pollutants implicated in chronic lung and cardiovascular illnesses, acute respiratory infections in children, and other serious health conditions.
The World Health Organization also estimates that household air pollution from burning solid fuels like charcoal and firewood contributes to millions of deaths globally each year, with women and young children disproportionately affected due to time spent near cooking fires.
Forests Under Pressure From Charcoal Production
The environmental consequences of sustained charcoal use are equally stark. Studies focused on the Greater Accra region and surrounding supply areas such as the Afram Plains reveal that urban charcoal demand is contributing to deforestation and ecosystem degradation.
Research has found that charcoal demand from Accra contributes to the loss of an estimated 350,000 trees annually in the Afram Plains, creating an ecological deficit that far exceeds the area’s regenerative capacity.
Separately, broader national analyses suggest that Ghana continues to lose forest cover at significant rates, with charcoal production and firewood harvesting among major drivers of deforestation over recent decades.
A Practical Test for Energy Transition
Dr. Oppong’s comments underscore a key challenge in Ghana’s energy transition: the gap between policy intentions and what households can practically access and afford.
While government programmes have expanded LPG cylinder distribution, the absence of a dependable refill and distribution network outside major cities means many families revert to charcoal, the most accessible fuel for daily cooking.
Energy sector observers say that for Ghana to make meaningful inroads in clean cooking adoption, investments must focus not only on cylinder availability but also on fuel supply infrastructure, price stability, and behaviour change campaigns.
As the country seeks balanced energy security in the context of global shifts toward cleaner fuels, the persistence of charcoal use, with its clear health and environmental costs, remains a test of how well policy translates into real-world impact.
