The Minister of Environment, Dr. Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya has on 3^rd May 2023 launched the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for bulk cooking in 20 schools from four districts of the Green Amayaga Proje intervention area.

The LPG equipment were donated together with 20 tons of gas – one tone per school – by the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) through the Green Amayaga Project being implemented in Kamonyi, Nyanza, Ruhango, and Gisagara Districts of Rwanda’s Southern Province.

LPG use in schools is not a common practice in Rwanda since schools have traditionally relied on firewood for their cooking activities.

Supplying the LPG facilities to the 20 schools is in line with one of Green Amayaga Project’s main objective to reducing the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to the adverse effects of climate change.

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

Schools provided with LPG have praised the benefits of the new cooking system, explaining that it is much more convenient and time saving than traditional cooking methods which also contribute to deforestation.

“It takes less time to heat up and cook food. Additionally, LPG is much cleaner burning than charcoal or firewood, resulting in less smoke which was mostly affecting the cooks, students and the staff in general” said Sister Umumararungu Marie Pelagie, Headteacher of Groupe Scolaire Mater Dei in Nyanza District, Southern Province of Rwanda

Another benefit of LPG cooking is that it is more cost-effective in the long run as the cost is lower, making it a more economical choice for schools.

Father Mbarushimana André, from Sainte Bernadette School in Kamonyi district said that “We could spend Rwf 1.4 million per term with the traditional method but today with the LPG method we spend around Rwf 700 thousand.”

The schools are in a process to fully switch to LPGs.  “There is still a challenge of high cost of installation equipment, despite that, we are committed to fully switch to LPGs as we are now aware of LPG benefits compared to biomass fuel use” some school leaders said.

Rwanda’s Minister of Environment Dr. Mujawamariya reminded that there is nothing costlier than human life, which is the reason why everyone would consider using gas instead of using biomass fuel.

“I would not say that the equipment is expensive, because even cutting down the forests itself is more expensive for us because whenever we use firewood, we pollute the air at the same time polluting ourselves. You buy the equipment once, you save money and protect the planet from a lot of things that could threaten the environment and human life” She reminded.

To prevent the risks of cooking gas explosion, staff from the 20 schools were trained with full knowledge and skills to prevent any incident that can lead to that explosion.

So far, each school, at the beginning, was supported with 2 cooking pots that are connected to LPG system. Based on the LPG benefits, some schools are committed to buy more pots to be able to full switch to LPG use in the near future.