Open burning is a more prevalent primary waste disposal method in Africa than in any other region in the world, a new report based on Gallup data shows. In eastern and central-western African countries, at least one in three households report open burning — setting waste on fire — to be their primary methods of disposing waste. The only region with a similar rate is Southeast Asia. Open burning is a risk to public safety because it can lead to “accidental fires and soil and water contamination” and worsens global warming by releasing more carbon into the atmosphere, the report by Lloyd’s Register Foundation says. It is rare in wealthy countries with 7%, 2%, and 1% prevalence among households in Latin America, North America, and Western Europe respectively. The southern African nation of Eswatini has the highest open burning prevalence in the world at 77% of the population. Chad, Uganda, Malawi and Kenya are the other African countries where over 50% of households lead with open burning.