War On Charcoal: Nasarawa Rolls Out 10-year Climate Plan

Nasarawa State government has declared war on charcoal and firewood use as it rolled out a 10-year climate action plan targeting one million households for clean cookstoves by 2030.

The state government  held a validation workshop for three key climate policy documents at the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Lafia.

The documents are the Draft Nasarawa State Low Emission Development Strategy, the Clean Cookstove Implementation Framework, and a 10-Year Costed Action Plan for 2026–2035.

The director-general, Human Capital Development Agency, Habiba Balarabe Suleiman, said the drafts were backed by a March 2026 survey of 1,232 households and 334 businesses across six LGAs.

The survey found that 82.4 per cent of households still cook with firewood or charcoal. Over 40 per cent reported health problems linked to smoke exposure.

It also showed women and girls handle 93.2 per cent of cooking duties, while men control 60.7 per cent of fuel decisions. Yet 92.5 per cent of households said they were ready to switch to cleaner technologies.

“The demand is not in question. Our task is to resolve affordability and market reach,” Suleiman said.

She explained that NASLEDS sets Nasarawa’s course to net-zero by 2060, with the cookstove framework pushing to reach one million homes before 2030.

At the heart of the plan is a “waste to wealth” programme. The state will set up manufacturing industries over the next five years to turn waste into marketable products. The goal: create jobs, boost revenue, cut charcoal production, and restore forests.

Suleiman said the initiative would prioritise citizens’ health and tackle environmental degradation tied to charcoal production, especially in Wamba LGA.

Wamba is a major charcoal hub, feeding markets across Nasarawa and much of northern Nigeria.

Dr Adnan Aminu, Head of Green Growth at Murty International, said the state had just completed Nigeria’s most comprehensive clean cooking survey.

Aminu, who led the research, said existing data was “old or conflicting,” forcing his team to collect fresh field data from 1,566 respondents.

“We had three to four datasets that were not agreeing with each other,” he said.

The new survey is nearly 70 per cent larger than the previous biggest dataset in the state, which had about 900 entries. It is also the first in Nasarawa to combine households and businesses.

“This positions Nasarawa as a frontrunner in Nigeria’s climate strategy,” Aminu said. He added that the state is one of the few selected to develop a national low emission development strategy.

Stakeholders from government, private sector, academia, and CSOs are reviewing the drafts. Suleiman said all contributions would be reflected in the final documents.