Clean cooking technologies should be scaled up to check the increasing reliance on firewood in schools, members of the standing committee on education, technology, culture and youth in the lower house have said.

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The lawmakers were addressing the Minister of Education, Joseph Nsengimana, on November 28 who was explaining the progress about 2003 education policy implementation.

Traditionally, firewood is used to heat huge cooking pots in schools countrywide and many loads of timber must be brought to the schools each term. Wood fuel use by schools, homes, collection facilities, and some workplaces, is destroying woodlands and forests throughout the country, with serious implications for environmental sustainability and climate change.

Lawmakers were particularly concerned by the fact that as the government succeeds in scaling up the school feeding programme, countrywide, this also meant that schools’ wood fuel demands had increased. The school feeding programme which initially catered for high school students was scaled up in 2021 to all levels in public schools and government-aided schools.

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There are currently 540,998 learners in pre-primary schools, 2,838,343 learners in public and government aided primary schools and over 800,000 learners in public and government aided secondary schools. Previously the school feeding programme was only catering for secondary school students.

Extending the school feeding programme to over 3 million pre-primary and primary school learners instead of only feeding 800,000 learners in secondary schools has triggered a drastic increase in the quantity of firewood used in these schools.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

"It is obvious that extending the school feeding programme to all learners is fuelling deforestation. We visited some schools in Gisagara District that are piloting the use of cooking gas in school feeding programmes under the Green Amayaga project. The ministry should consider the feasibility to scale up such an initiative to protect the environment by reducing pressure on forests,” said MP Balinda Rutebuka.

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Launched in 2020, Green Amayaga project is a six-year initiative to promote biodiversity, foster ecosystem services, increase agricultural productivity and reduce the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to the adverse effects of climate change in Southern Province.

In 2023, the Ministry of Environment launched the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for bulk cooking in 20 schools in Kamonyi, Nyanza, Ruhango, and Gisagara districts of Southern Province.

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Each school was supported with two cooking pots that are connected to an LPG system. LPG use in schools is not common practice in Rwanda where schools have traditionally relied on firewood for their cooking activities.

LPG use will not only reduce pressure on forests but it will also reduce emissions, thus contributing to students’ wellbeing, and helping schools to save money usually spent to buy firewood, lawmakers said.

Father André Mbarushimana, from Sainte Bernadette School in Kamonyi District, said: "We could spend Rwf1.4 million per term with the traditional method but today, with LPG, we spend around Rwf700,000.”

Briquettes

MP Furaha Emma Rubagumya, the chairperson of the standing committee on education, technology, culture and youth, made the case for using briquettes made from rice husks as cooking fuel.

She said it was a good practice observed in Gabiro high school during a recent tour by lawmakers.

"They [Gabiro high school] are using briquettes made from waste instead of cutting trees. This should be replicated,” she noted.

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Wood briquettes are an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels.

Briquettes are made by converting waste materials into useful solid fuels. Biomass briquettes are considered carbon-neutral since the carbon dioxide released during their combustion is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during the plant’s growth.

This means that biomass briquettes do not contribute to global warming, unlike fossil fuels.

Solar energy in cooking

Solar energy for cooking has also been proposed as an alternative to firewood.

In November, Rwanda Energy Group (REG) announced that research has shown that people can cook using solar energy.

People living in areas without access to on-grid electricity can cook using solar energy.

Electricity in cooking

Lawmakers said that as more schools also get connected to electricity, the government should consider supporting them in using electricity for cooking.

Rwanda is revising its energy policy to expedite its transition to renewable energy, aiming to address new challenges in the sector and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Reducing electricity tariffs is another focus of the revised policy, as the government aims to make energy more affordable for households.

Lower tariffs, Fidele Abimana, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure, said in November, will encourage the use of electricity for cooking and other activities, thereby reducing dependence on biomass.

Cooking gas from waste water treatment

Lawmakers also proposed the idea of using cooking gas from waste water treatment. The government is considering scaling up eco-friendly technology to generate biogas from wastewater treatment and be used as cooking fuel in schools.

A technology known as biological anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) is a type of sanitation technology designed to treat wastewater and faecal sludge, thereby producing energy.

The Minister of Education on Thursday told lawmakers that the national comprehensive school feeding policy developed in 2019 considered a partnership with the Ministry of Infrastructure to enhance the provision of flexi biogas and clean cooking systems to reduce the use of firewood in schools.

Flexi biogas cooking systems are designed for daily household energy demands. They run on any biodegradable material.

"After extending school feeding, the demand for firewood increased. In terms of environmental protection by schools, we will consider such cooking gas systems being used in Gisagara, using electricity, and solar energy in cooking to reduce environmental impact,” he said.

The Ministry of Environment estimates that an investment of $1.37 billion is required, by 2030, to reduce charcoal and wood fuel use from 83% to 42% by adopting clean cooking energy sources.