The government of Ghana launched the Rural LPG promotion programme to reduce the consumption of firewood.

To support its purpose, awareness pertaining to the advantages of LPG use over the conventional method of cooking using firewood has to be created among rural households.

Importantly and essentially it must be coupled with pragmatic steps to enable homemakers to access cooking gas without paucity of supplies and without hurdles. This calls for serious consideration.

Burning of firewood in kitchens can lead to hazardous outcomes. Frequent inhalation of smoke caused by it can lead to lung ailments and cause discomfort to the eyes.

Conventional fuels such as firewood and coal need storage space. Cleaning the carbon deposit on utensils is another unpleasant task for homemakers and long cooking hours add to their woes.

Moreover, firewood turns moist during the monsoon and merciless felling of trees aggravates the increasingly evident climate change concerns and catastrophes related to it.

In sharp contrast to all this is the LPG, the merits of which need not be highlighted or substantiated with rationale.

Ghana and India share a cordial relationship. As far as India’s role to enhance Ghana’s living standards goes, plans have been drawn up in Ghana to adopt the success model of India’s cooking gas.

India’s energy major – Indian Oil Corporation Limited and the National Petroleum Authority of Ghana have signed a deal to augment the cooking gas penetration in Ghana. One of the visions of Ghana is to provide access to cooking gas to at least 50% of the country’s households by 2030.

Thus the blue flame emitted by an LPG gas stove should be able to add warmth in the lives of more and more homemakers of Ghana.