Cleaner cooking in Tanzania: Incentives for LPG stoves can help save forests
Many households were involved in the experiment. Photo: EfD South Africa
The green transition in Africa is a complex topic. Households still rely heavily on charcoal and biomass for cooking and heating, leading to deforestation, increasing climate change, and negative social and health effects for children and women who are exposed to the hazardous smoke and spend much time collecting fuel.
Charcoal is the primary cooking source for the majority of Sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in deforestation. The production of charcoal is also an extremely inefficient process, and the burning of charcoal comes with a slew of health concerns. EfD researchers studied the reduction in charcoal use and subsequent environmental benefits when individuals were provided a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) stove using a randomized controlled trial (RCT)
The project used subsidies and credit to promote LPG adaptation
The RCT, led by Yonas Alem, a visiting Senior Research Fellow at EPRU-EfD South Africa, along with Remidius Ruhinduka, University of Dar es Salaam, consisted of three groups in urban Tanzania: two treatment groups and a control group. The treatment groups were split between receiving an LPG stove via a subsidy or through credit. The credit distribution itself was split into three types of credit repayment structures: monthly, weekly, or daily repayments.
Using the reduction in charcoal consumption, the corresponding deforestation reduction and carbon emission reduction could be calculated, taking into account the emissions caused by LGPs. Another important research question was the shifts in time spent by women, who are the primary individuals in both the cooking and collecting of burnable biomass in African countries, given a reduction in traditional household activities. A reduction in the time spent doing these activities not only empowers women to seek other activities but also reduces health risks from indoor pollution.
Reductions in charcoal use, emissions, and cooking times
The results showed that introducing LPG stoves reduced charcoal consumption by 39% 15 months after the intervention. This reduction in charcoal consumption leads to decreases in deforestation and the subsequent carbon emissions. An LPG stove was found to emit only a third of the CO2 that cooking the same meal with charcoal did. These results indicate a net benefit in the implementation of LPG stoves to urban households.
The results also indicated reduced cooking time by 70% for households with LPG stoves 15 months after the intervention. This decrease can be attributed to the speed of LPGs in the cooking process compared to charcoal cooking. Additionally, it was found that cooking exclusively with LPG stoves was 50% cheaper than cooking with charcoal.
Across the treatment groups, there were different levels of improvement. The subsidy treatment group saw greater usage of LPGs and greater reductions of CO2 emissions. Additionally, the subsidy treatment group saw a greater reduction in cooking time compared to the credit treatment group.
Policy should look towards increasing credit availability
The findings of the study show the importance of policy to promote the households’ transition towards cleaner energy sources and the value of improving credit availability. The findings suggest that households are willing to transition towards cleaner energy, but when credit constrained, they are unable to. Improving microfinancing options or government subsidies can lead to increase uptake towards cleaner energy.
To read the full paper, please find it here.
Josh Gray