US companies celebrate clean cooking initiatives at LPG Week

Worthington Enterprises and Ferrellgas Partners were among the companies from the U.S. propane industry announcing clean cooking initiatives at the World Liquid Gas Association’s (WLGA) LPG Week in Cape Town, South Africa.

Worthington Enterprises – West Africa Clean Cooking Fund

Worthington Enterprises Inc. is supporting the West Africa Clean Cooking Fund to help transform practices in a region where more than 267 million people are still dependent upon traditional biomass fuels for cooking.

The extensive use of these biomass fuels causes significant health issues, especially for women, and environmental challenges with deforestation and increased greenhouse gas emissions, Worthington points out.

The fund will be accelerated by a $1 million commitment from The Worthington Companies Foundation and contributions from other organizations to help advance qualified projects that create the infrastructure, equipment and training needed for sustainable adoption of clean and safe cooking with LPG.

Sonya Higginbotham, president of The Worthington Companies Foundation, announced the fund at the World Liquid Gas Association’s (WLGA) LPG Week in Cape Town, South Africa.

“The LPG industry is uniquely qualified and equipped to address the critical health risks, environmental damage and social burdens faced throughout West Africa,” Higginbotham says. “Women and children face the highest risks by simply trying to provide food for life. Developing and implementing an impactful solution will take all of us to achieve an outcome bigger than any of us. We’re eager to collaborate with the WLGA, LPG suppliers and other LPG-related organizations.”

Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) equipped to manage and implement projects, as well as impact-minded organizations interested in participating in the fund, can learn more and express their interest by visiting the West Africa Clean Cooking Fund website, Worthington notes.

The fund will target projects in the nations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Beneficiaries include households, communities and organizations dedicated to advancing clean cooking solutions.

The fund is seeking additional support from the LPG industry that may include product donations, including LPG supply, LPG stoves, cylinders and related equipment, as well as direct financial grants for clean cooking projects, infrastructure development and educational initiatives to ensure adoption. Selected NGOs will oversee the collection and deployment of resources required for approved community projects.

Initial pilot projects may include consumer financing, behavior-change campaigns, consumer education and women’s empowerment. Application of new technologies in projects could help track progress and adoption, adds Tiago Oliveira, global vice president of product development for Worthington Enterprises’ building products business segment and a WLGA board member.

“We are excited about the potential insights that may be gained by using smart cylinders to track real-time LPG usage and sending targeted SMS messages that encourage efficient cooking habits, reinforce healthy behaviors and maximize the benefits of clean cooking,” Oliveira says. “For example, we believe data from this type of implementation can inform a high-impact and scalable subsidy program tailored to a community.”

The theme of the 2024 LPG Week is “Energy for All” to emphasize the benefits of LPG as a clean fuel ensuring widespread access to clean energy globally.

“Research indicates that households can reduce air pollution by 98 percent by utilizing LPG stoves instead of wood-burning stoves,” says James Rockall, CEO and managing director of WLGA. “Clean cooking is a strategic priority for our organization, and we cannot underestimate the role LPG can play in helping to solve challenges from dirty cooking techniques that continue to create economic, environmental and health crises.”

Ferrellgas Partners – South Africa’s Peninsula School Feeding Association

Ferrellgas, meanwhile, donated $25,000 to South Africa’s Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA) to help dozens of schools on its nutrition support program obtain gas compliance certificates for their kitchens as well as purchase gas stoves where needed.
 
The donation was made in conjunction with LPG Week.
 
Ferrellgas Vice President of Corporate Affairs Michelle Bimson Maggi, PSFA Director Petrina Pakoe and representatives from the WLGA, the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of South Africa and the National Propane Gas Association visited schools in Kensington and Ottery, outside Cape Town, at the conclusion of LPG Week. They saw firsthand the impact of the donation and spoke with students and faculty members about the many benefits of propane as a clean cooking fuel. These schools were also presented with a new three-burner gas stove.
 
“Propane is a worldwide solution to the challenges many nations face with cooking technology that is dated and dangerous,” Bimson Maggi says. “The employee-owners of Ferrellgas are proud to make this donation to PSFA and to help demonstrate one of the many ways propane can be used safely around the globe to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.”
 
The effort is a component of the Ferrellgas Century Project. Through the Ferrellgas Century Project, Ferrellgas employees pledge to give back to communities up to and beyond the year 2039, which will mark its 100th year in business.
 
PSFA, founded in 1958 after the government terminated the national school feeding program at the time, currently provides daily nutritious cooked meals to nearly 35,000 students at more than 400 educational institutions in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.
 
“PSFA is sincerely grateful for Ferrellgas’ generous support, which will have a meaningful impact on our school nutrition program,” says Pakoe. “With this donation, we can assist schools on our feeding program to meet the required gas compliance regulation. This certification is costly, and many of the schools do not have the funds to obtain the certificate. The use of gas is the most cost-effective and efficient method for preparing large quantities of food. We are inspired by Ferrellgas’ dedication to environmental health and their support for the well-being of children in South Africa. Partnerships like these are essential in empowering us to continue providing nutritious meals that support children’s education and well-being.”
 
According to the WLGA, indoor air pollution caused by unsafe cooking fuels kills about 4.3 million people annually.


“The World Liquid Gas Association is very pleased to support our member Ferrellgas in this extremely generous initiative,” the Rockall says. “We are happy to be working with Ferrellgas and the School Feeding Program in South Africa with a donation that will have such a positive impact on over 40 schools in the Cape Town region. This donation will also serve to demonstrate the impact of LPG in the lives of young people around the world. Thank you and congratulations to all involved in this exceptional undertaking.”