This study forms part of an SEI research programme titled Strengthening Energy, Environment and Development Processes (SEED) funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida).
SEED consisted of a number of studies between 2007 and 2010 focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, examining the intersection of some of the major issues related to household cooking, energy access, modern bioenergy and livelihoods. The programme’s aim was to generate new knowledge and synthesis as a basis for supporting the formulation and implementation of public and private action to increase access to sustainable energy.
This paper presents the findings of a 2010 SEED study on...
In urban Lusaka, as in many other parts of Africa, charcoal dominates the household energy market. It is the main cooking fuel for most low- and middle-income households, and is also used for water and space heating. While rural areas outside Lusaka rely heavily on wood fuel, urban households generally prefer charcoal because it produces less smoke and is easier to transport and store. It is burned in a traditional mbaula brazier, a small, round stove fabricated with metal by local tinsmiths.
Charcoal use contributes to air pollution and, especially when burned indoors, also damages people’s health.¹ In addition, the...
The data obtained from field interviews and observations is presented here as a combination of explicit (stated) and tacit (observed, unstated) “expressions” regarding energy use and cooking behaviour. This section describes available energy options and patterns of household use, the mbaula charcoal stove and household cooking practices, the way in which these express different household energy preferences relating to cooking (i.e. needs and desires), and some examination of willingness and capacity to pay for alternatives.
For context, our descriptions include some findings of relevant previous studies, duly referenced so as not to be confused with the data produced in this...
If interventions to reduce charcoal use are to be effective, they need to be socially and financially sustainable in the longer term. To accomplish this, they must respond to the problems as experienced by local people as well as to the array of social, cultural and financial factors that influence daily household decisions about cooking and energy use.
Drawing on the findings presented above, this section illuminates benefits on which efforts to encourage a shift in household energy use patterns should focus in order to be most effective. It then proposes three specific actions that, if well designed and implemented...