Cooking smoke linked to 26,000 deaths in Kenya every year - report

Household air pollution remains a major public health threat in Kenya, with more than 26,000 people dying every year from exposure to harmful smoke caused by traditional cooking methods.

A new policy presentation by the NIHR CLEAN-Air (Africa) Global Health Research Group has linked the deaths to the continued use of charcoal, firewood, and crop waste, fuels that are still in use in over 76 per cent of homes across the country.

The report highlights that Kenya records more than one million Disability-Adjusted-Life-Years (DALYs) every year as a result of diseases connected to household air pollution.

These include respiratory problems and heart-related illnesses, which continue to affect people in homes and schools using unsafe cooking fuels.

“More than one-third of the world’s population relies on polluting fuels,” the report noted, warning that these fuels release harmful pollutants such as PM2.5, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, all of which are dangerous to health and harmful to the environment.

At the global level, an estimated 3.2 million people die every year due to the same causes, with polluting fuels producing around 20.7 million tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions annually.

The situation is even more serious in schools, where over 97 per cent are still using polluting fuels to prepare meals, putting both learners and staff at risk.

“A boarding school uses 200 to 500 tons of wood every year. No wood – no meals – no education. This leads to deforestation, frequent disruptions in learning due to energy insecurity, and a health crisis brewing among students,” the report revealed.

In response to this crisis, the NIHR CLEAN-Air (Africa) team has introduced a range of clean energy programmes aimed at replacing dangerous cooking practices with safe and sustainable alternatives.

One of the key strategies is the Community Health Household Air Pollution Prevention Programme (CHAP-PP), which empowers community health workers with the knowledge and tools to educate households about clean cooking.

The programme includes a special training module, Module 14, focused on household air pollution, and also runs the TABLE-HAP initiative, which works through table banking groups to promote awareness and encourage a shift in behaviour.

The research group has already launched pilot projects in Uasin Gishu and Narok counties, targeting communities with awareness campaigns and clean fuel alternatives such as LPG.

These efforts are supported by air quality monitoring equipment, including Purple Air, UPAS, and Black Carbon sensors, which measure pollution levels in real time.

Between 2021 and 2022, the team also carried out research in schools located in informal settlements to assess the impact of switching from wood to LPG.

The study looked at how the cleaner fuel affected health, costs, and environmental outcomes. The results showed major benefits and have helped make the case for a national shift to safer cooking options in school kitchens.

Findings from the project have contributed directly to the development of national frameworks, including the Kenya Climate Change and Health Strategy 2024–2029 and the National Cooking Transition Strategy 2024–2028.

Presenting the findings, Charles Muruka called for urgent action to link science with policy. “We must connect data to policy. There is a need for joint investment in early warning systems that put public health first.”

The initiative is being implemented with support from global and regional partners and is funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), as efforts intensify to expand the use of clean cooking technologies across homes and schools in Kenya.