In the simmering heat of Tudor Moroto slum in Mombasa, children and women go about their business oblivious of the dirty air around them.
Many of them depend on firewood, charcoal and kerosene to cook their food or light their home. Having electricity is a ‘luxury’ they can ill afford. For the desperately poor, plastics—from used bags, to containers —are an important source of fuel and even light.
They, like their compatriots in the rural areas, are unaware of the dangers they are exposed to. Indoor pollution is the silent killer that stalks their homes. But for majority of them, they seem to have few options.
In 2014, the World Health Organization released a report stating that exposure to air pollution was responsible for an estimated 7 million premature deaths in 2012. Of these deaths, 3.7 million deaths were due to outdoor air pollution, and 3.3 million people died due to indoor air pollution).
According to the report updated in 2016, more than 50% of premature deaths due to pneumonia among children under 5 are caused by the particulate matter (soot) inhaled from household air pollution.
These fuel and lighting sources release pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and particulate matter in different sizes.
LITTLE OR NO AWARENESS
It is lunch time, and Jumwa Kitsao, a mother of five, lights her kerosene stove to cook the family’s midday meal. She does not like using the stove but she has no alternative. What she earns does not allow her the "luxury types of cooking fuel".
"We are waiting for the right time to get good money. Right now, l earn money from grating coconuts for households who need my services. The money is not enough," she says.
Kitsao is not aware that indoor pollution causes about 4.3 million premature deaths globally each year. And even if she knew, she would not know what to do so that she does not add to this number.
The World Health Organisation reports the level of fine particulate matter in the city’s outdoor air is 17 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3). This is 70 per cent above the recommended maximum level.
A research study by the African Population and Reproductive Health Centre revealed that the average levels of fine particulate matter within households were three times more than the WHO recommended maximum level of 25µg/m3.
The lower the levels of air pollution, the better the cardiovascular and respiratory health of the people. Estimates of indoor air pollution levels in homes do not come by easily due to difficulties in monitoring household air quality.
Mercy, who also lives in Tudor Muoroto, says she uses a (charcoal) jiko and a paraffin stove for cooking. As far as she can tell, she and her children have not had any adverse health effects.
"They (jiko and stove fumes) have never affected me. What affects me are my surroundings."
Eldoret resident Gladys Wanjiru using firewood to cook. /MATHEWS NDANYI
'CHEST PAINS BUT NO CHOICE'
Gladys Wanjiru, a single mother with one child who lives at the Kamukunji slum in Eldoret, says she uses firewood to cook even though she suffers from bad coughs.
"Mara nyingi moshi huingia kwenye kifua na hata kwa macho lakini inabidi nitumie kwa sababu sina namna. Wakati mwingine kifua kinafungana kwa sababu ya moshi (Most times the smoke gets into my lungs and eyes but I have no choice since it is the only cooking method I can afford. At times I suffer chest congestion)," Wanjiru says.
She says she is not fully aware of the long term effects and says she would switch to a gas stove if she could afford it.
"Kuni huokoa muda kwa sababu sina gas wala pesa za kununua jiko (Using firewood saves time. I don't have money to buy a gas stove or a jiko)."
Wood smoke has been shown to have similar pollutants as cigarette smoke but at higher concentrations.
Across the country in Kakamega, Eunice Namlola Wanjala uses a three-stone fire pit for cooking and it also serves to light her house. The smoke from the fire curls upto the roof rafters which have turned black from the soot. Despite the open doorway and window, she is surrounded by a cloud of smoke which only dissipates when the thin twigs and dry maize cobs catch fire.
Namlola’s four month old daughter is strapped to her back. The baby’s sleep is restless and Namlola coaxes the flame to catch so that she can prepare her family’s evening meal. Because she is responsible for cooking, Namlola and her baby are the most affected by the harmful pollutants from the smoke.
An electricity pole at Tudor Moroto slum in Mombasa, August 27, 2017. /ELKANA JACOB
Poor ventilation in homes where windows and doors remain closed most of the day due to concerns about security or to keep out dust and other outdoor air pollutants makes matters worse.
The pollutants are associated with respiratory diseases, cancers and serious maternal and child health concerns.
For Peris Wambui, using a jiko is a simple matter of economics. Charcoal is cheaper than gas or even Kerosene.
"Lakini saa zingine moshi yaumiza macho (But the smoke from the jiko sometimes hurts my eyes)."
Poverty has also contributed to an increase in illegal electricity connections in most of the informal settlements in Mombasa as well as other urban areas. Majority of the population living in informal settlements access electricity through illegal connections made to the Kenya Power distribution lines.
"We have not had electricity because there are too many illegal connections," Kitsao says.
According to the Kenya country action plan, the government intends to ensure that at least 57.7% of households countrywide will have access to improved cookstoves by 2030. The Draft
National Energy Policy 2015 envisages having 35.3% of all households using while use of electricity, bioethanol and biogas for cooking is projected to reach 7.6% by 2030.
The top three leading sources of household cooking fuels are firewood, charcoal and paraffin.
OPENS SEWERS ANOTHER DANGER
Research done by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) on the main fuel type for household energy needs in two slums (Korogocho and Viwandani) in Nairobi indicated that 84% of households use kerosene/paraffin, 14% charcoal and 2% use other fuels such as firewood, animal waste and gas.
The survey also found that outdoor air pollution in the slums also contributed to the level of indoor air pollution because of the infiltration of air pollutants into poorly ventilated structures.
Majority of the slums have open sewer lines lie which pass outside many homes. Mounds of smouldering garbage which dot these settlements compound an already difficult situation. Many of the residents have become accustomed to the situation.
At Tudor Muoroto, mothers hang their washing on lines strung over the open sewers as their children romp and play in the dirt, oblivious of the dangers they are exposed to.
A public toilet at Tudor Moroto slum in Mombasa, August 27, 2017. /ELKANA JACOB
According WHO, a quarter of all global deaths of children under five are due to unhealthy or polluted environments, including dirty water and air.
The risks include diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia, conditions which kill 1.7 million children a year.
HuruMap shows only 27 per cent of the Mombasa population use sewers or septic tank as their main mode of human waste disposal.
In most of the informal settlements, residents have to deal with the gagging stench from the open sewers and drains. They also have to contend with the acrid smoke and fires of smoldering garbage piles that dot these settelements.
INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
- Installing smoke hoods over open cooking fires. A study conducted by the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) found that simple measures, such as creating windows and eave spaces and removing smoke by installing a hood and chimney over cooking areas, can drastically reduce indoor pollution.
- Fuel efficient stoves — efficient burning of fuel, lower emissions and potentially, shorter cooking times.
- Biogas—produced from animal dung can produce clean, energy efficient ways to cooking without the risk of smoke
- Use of alternative fuels eg: LPG, Solar or electricity.
- Better ventilation— enlarging kitchen windows etc
- Uncontrolled burning of garbage
- Indoor smoking
Illustration by Wandia Karige
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment