Clean cooking could prevent infant deaths and cut disease burden in Africa

Health gains from clean cooking

Across 102 developing countries studied from 2000 to 2022, improvements in access to clean cooking fuels were associated with better health and nutrition outcomes. The association was stronger in urban settings than in rural ones.

For sub-Saharan Africa, the researchers modeled two access scenarios. Increasing rural access from 10% to 25% was estimated to prevent around 84,000 infant deaths and reduce child stunting by approximately 1.68 million cases. In urban areas, raising access from a baseline of 35% to universal coverage was estimated to avert up to 377,000 infant deaths and save more than 11 million disability-adjusted life years.

Why access matters

Polluting cooking fuels contribute to household air pollution and are used by many households, particularly in developing countries. The estimates indicate that expanding clean-cooking access could reduce infant deaths, child stunting and the wider burden of disease. Although rural communities remain underserved, the larger modeled urban gains support a balanced policy approach that addresses both settings.

Evidence and caveats

The study analyzes panel data from 102 developing countries between 2000 and 2022, using fixed-effects and instrumental-variable methods to address possible differences between countries and other sources of bias. The country-level results describe relationships between clean-cooking access and well-being, while the sub-Saharan Africa figures come from scenario simulations. The abstract does not specify the instruments, model details or how closely the scenarios reflect conditions in individual countries, so the estimated benefits should not be read as observed outcomes.