This document discusses solid fuel use for cooking and its impacts on health. It notes that over 2 billion people rely on solid biomass fuels like wood and charcoal for cooking. Smoke from biomass cooking fires can contain toxic compounds and increases risk of pneumonia in children. Not all wood species are the same in terms of toxins produced. Some interventions to address this include improved cookstoves and transitions to other fuels, but solid fuel use remains widespread. The document examines case studies of charcoal and fuelwood use. It discusses assessing the mutagenic potency of different wood species and combining this with local knowledge to identify "good" and "poor" quality wood species for fuel. Agroforestry is presented as a way

1. SEEING THE WOOD FOR THE
TREES:
beyond
bio-­‐for,fica,on:
nutri,on,
cooking
&
health
Dr A B (Tony) Cunningham
ICRAF Senior Associate &
School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia

2. OVERVIEW
• 1.
Context
• 2.
Why
worry
about
what’s
used
for
cooking?
• 3.
Where
does
solid
fuel
use
for
cooking
occur?
• 4.
Common
intervenAons;
• 5.
Fuel
choices,
toxic
effects
&
agroforestry
soluAons
• 6.
Conclusions.

3. 1.
CONTEXT
• “Hidden
hunger”
–
micro-­‐
nutrient
deficiency;
• “nutriAon
transiAon”
&
bioforAficaAon
in
further
dietary
simplificaAon
vs.
biodiversity
in
nutriAon
(Frison
et
al.,
2004,
COP7;
Johns
and
Eyzaguirre.
2007);
• Looking
out
of
the
frying
pan
&
into
the
fire….(or
at
fuelwood
&
charcoal
diversity)….

5. WHAT
SCALE?
CASE
STUDY:
TANZANIA
&
MALAWI
• About
half
of
Tanzania’s
annual
consumpAon
of
charcoal
takes
place
in
Dar
es
Salaam
(c.500,000
tons/yr)
from
a
“catchment”
up
to
200
km
away
(WB,
2009);
• Tanzania:
trade
worth
US$650
million/yr
(WB,
2009)
&
in
Malawi
c.
US$41.3
million/yr
to
four
ciAes
(=tea
industry)
(Kambewa
et
al,
2007);
Ref:
World
Bank.
2009.
Environmental
crisis
or
sustainable
development
opportunity?:
Transforming
the
charcoal
sector
in
Tanzania.
•
World
Bank,
Washington
DC.

6. 2.
BACKGROUND
• 2.4
billion
people
live
in
households
where
solid
biomass
fuels
(wood,
charcoal,
dung)
are
used
for
cooking
&
heaAng
plus
0.6
million
using
coal
(Po
et
al.,
2011);
• About
2
million
children/yr
die
of
pneumonia.
Smoke
(=indoor
air
polluAon)
increases
risk
of
pneumonia
by
1.8
in
children
(Dherani
et
al,
2008;
Hu
et
al.,
2010;
Po
et
al.,
2011);
• Not
all
woods
are
the
same:
toxins
in
fuelwoods
can
have
serious
health
consequences.

7. 3.
WHERE
DOES
SOLID
FUEL
USE
FOR
COOKING
OCCUR?
but
what
about
tree
diversity
&
fuelwood
&
charcoal
quality?
• Ref:
Torres-­‐Duque
et
al.
2008.
Biomass
Fuels
and
Respiratory
Diseases.
Proc
Am
Thorac
Soc
5:
577–590

8. 4.
COMMON
INTERVENTIONS
• improvements
of
household
venAlaAon;
• IntroducAon
of
different
stove
designs;
• TransiAons
to
other
energy
sources
(e.g:
rural
electrificaAon);
• …but
charcoal
&
fuelwood
sAll
widely
used,
even
with
rural
electrificaAon.

9. CASE
STUDY:
SOUTH
AFRICA
• electrificaAon
yet
no
significant
decrease
in
per
capita
woody
biomass
consumpAon…BUT:
•
significant
increase
in
the
Ame
spent
collecAng
fuelwood
&
more
buying
firewood;
• larger
number
of
tree
species
collected
&
used
for
fuelwood
than
before…..so
wood
use
will
be
with
us
for
a
while….
REF:
Madubansi
M
&
Shackleton
C.M.
(2006).
Changing
Energy
Profiles
and
consumpAon
pakerns
following
electrificaAon
in
five
rural
villages,
South
Africa.
Energy
Policy.
34:4081-­‐4092

10. 5.
FUEL
CHOICES
&
TOXIC
EFFECTS
• What
is
used
to
cook
foods
by
which
households
&
what
levels
of
exposure
to
what
types
of
smoke?;
• Toxic
effects
of
certain
plant
species,
genera
&
families
well
known
(eg:
Spirostachys
(Africa),
Excoecaria
agallocha
(South
Asia)
which
contain
the
diterpene
excoecarin;
• More
subtle
effects
can
be
more
insidious.

11. SMOKE
IS
NATURAL,
BUT
IS
IT
GOOD?
• Polycyclic
aromaAc
hydrocarbons
(PAH)
(e.g:
benzopyrenes)
=
carcinogenic
(cancer
of
lungs,
pharynx
&
larynx);
• Polycyclic
aromaAcs
&
metal
ions
in
smoke
(toxins
absorbed
into
eye
lenses,
causing
oxidaAve
change
&
cataracts);
• Need
to
understand
mutagenicity
emission
potency
of
different
wood
species
are
used
as
fuel.

12. SEEING
WOOD,
TREES
&
LANDSCAPES
less
choice
of
fuelwoods,
parAcularly
for
poor
&
vulnerable
households

13. COMBINE
WOOD
MUTAGENIC
ASSESSMENTS
&
LOCAL
KNOWLEDGE
• mutagenic
potency
of
some
fuelwood
species
has
been
established
(e.g:
Vu
et
al.,
2012,
Portugal)
but
more
Asian
and
African
studies
needed;
• Good
to
use
informant-­‐based
valuaAon
systems
&
local
knowledge
to
prioriAze
fuelwood
species
(Cunningham,
2001);
• Euclea
as
an
example.

14. CASE
STUDY:
STRYCHNOS,
5
YR
FAMINE
FOOD
• Highly
favoured
woods:
Newtonia
hildebrand9i,
Pteleopsis
myr9folia
vs.
poor
quality
woods
(e.g:
Albizia
versicolor)
(Cunningham,
1985)

15. AGROFORESTRY
&
SELECTING
“GOOD
WOODS”
• SelecAon
for
chemotypes
with
low
toxic
levels
(e.g:
polycyclic
aromaAc
hydrocarbons)
-­‐
parAcipatory
processes
&
local
knowledge
important

16. 6.
CONCLUSION:
A
SYSTEMS
APPROACH
FOOD
&
FUELWOOD
FOOD
&
FUEL
ACCESS
AVAILABILITY
• Social
networks;
• RestoraAon,
agroforestry
&
•
Income
to
buy
food
&
fuel;
Resource
management
•
Disease
impacts
on
capability
(malaria,
respiratory
diseases,
HIV);
•
availability
of
quanAty
&
quality
•
Direct
&
indirect
impacts
of
fruit,
fuel
&
fodder
PEOPLE’S
of
climate
on
land-­‐use
species
&
food
security.
WELL
BEING
NUTRIENT
ACCESS
• Nutrient
content
of
foods
(oils,
proteins,
vitamins);
*
Opportunity
to
boil
water
&
cook
foods;
• Indirect
effects
on
human
health
&
ability
to
absorb
nutrients
(fungal
&
fuel
toxins,
water
&
sanitaAon)

17. THANK YOU