Amina Ali: Meet the Aspiring Young Clean Cooking Expert
Amina Ali is the Compliance and PR Manager for Southern Africa at Ener-G-Africa, a company that addresses the obstacles posed by climate change through locally developed sustainable energy solutions and clean energy products spanning the entire continent. Aspiring to soon become an expert in the sector, Ali is currently writing her master’s dissertation on clean cooking.
In a conversation with Ali, the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) learned about her interest in clean cooking, passion to serve others, thoughts on the importance of meaningful youth engagement in clean cooking, and more.
This story is part of a series featuring youth leaders from across the clean cooking sector.
Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA): What inspired you to engage in clean cooking and choose it as a topic for your master’s studies?
Amina Ali (Ali): I have always wanted to play a part in the eradication of poverty, and clean cooking has a trickle-down effect that people tend to overlook.
Unfortunately, cooking, which is a necessity for every human, has also become an issue of survival due to the harmful impacts of cooking over an open fire or with firewood.
In many rural settings, women often bear the responsibility of collecting firewood as part of their household chores. As they age, these women require help, which is most often provided by their daughters. Unfortunately, the process of standing over an open fire during cooking exposes them to fine particulate matter, leading to long-term respiratory issues such as asthma, lung disease, and pneumonia. Additionally, the time girls spend helping their mothers collect firewood detracts from their education, if she attended school in the first place. Because of this, young girls often grow up not having a chance to compete economically, ultimately perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
The privilege of my education is to help resolve this matter that causes many girls and women to lose their own education. These challenges inspire me to push myself harder and delve deeper into efforts to uplift those in need, striving to alleviate them from their circumstances as much as possible. By choosing clean cooking as a topic for my master’s studies, focusing particularly on its impacts on health and education, I would like to shed a light on the women who are forgotten.
CCA: Tell us about your current work and professional goals.
Ali: My passion has always been to serve others and my present work allows me to express that. The company I work for, Ener-G-Africa, is a strong advocate for clean cooking. Not only do we speak about it, but we take action by manufacturing clean cooking products, like stoves and cookware, and catering for all levels of society.
My professional goal is to deepen my knowledge of the subject matter – hence my master’s dissertation on clean cooking. I would like to be rendered an expert in the clean cooking space in the near future, and with the knowledge I possess, I aspire to be an advisor to a President or a role of similar caliber.
CCA: How have the various programs you have participated in impacted your professional growth?
Ali: They have equipped me with invaluable tools that I didn’t realize I needed. They allowed me to expand my horizons and broaden my knowledge in the field of clean cooking, exceeding my initial expectations. Among these programs, the Women in Clean Cooking Mentorship Program by CCA and partners has been particularly instrumental in my personal and professional growth. It also provided me with the opportunity to mentor others who are currently making remarkable strides in the field.
CCA: Why do you believe that meaningful inclusion of youth in clean cooking is important?
Ali: In the words of Kofi Annan, “you are never too young to lead and never too old to learn.” I have started seeing a couple of organizations incorporating young people into the clean cooking environment, but the issue lies in what they do after that. How far along do they go with the ideas of young people? Are their ideas implemented and integrated into societies and policies? Is it just a facade because young people do speak up about it but what is the length that their concerns are taken to? Young people are often seen as ‘too young to lead.’ Not to say that the people currently in charge are doing anything wrong, but youth enthusiasm and encouragement can help bring the issue to light.
CCA: In your opinion, what are some of the barriers for meaningful youth engagement in clean cooking?
Ali: There is a lack of positions and career opportunities for young people to learn and grow in the clean cooking space. Young women are particularly affected, especially those at the bottom of the social totem pole. If a young woman does get an opportunity, it falls on whether she attended an Ivy League university and can afford to relocate to a first world country. It is less common for a young girl from an African country who graduated from a lesser-known university to be given a job at a global institution or company.
Companies tend to have young people working as interns where they may be overworked and underpaid, however, inclusive career opportunities with competitive salaries can empower youth and foster meaningful engagement.
CCA: What is a key lesson you learned? Do you have any advice for young individuals seeking to bring change in the clean cooking sector and beyond?
Ali: Going with the flow of life and not against it has been my greatest blessing. I often come across people who want to be in control and take control of all matters but sometimes, if not most, stepping outside of your comfort zone expands your horizons. My advice is to:
- Be adaptable.
- Know when to serve. If you don’t serve, you don’t get to learn the tricks of the trade and neither do you get to be the next best thing.
- Don’t be humble. Post your achievements, volunteer to speak at events, write columns, do whatever it takes to put yourself out there. As much as people tell you to not compete with others, the reality is that you actually are competing with others. In all your doings, be excellent, because someone is always watching.
