CHAPTER ONE STUDY BACKGROUND
Introduction
Cooking is an inevitable activity for human survival and has transcended generation, race, and culture. Societies have evolved over the years and so have their means of cooking food. However, nearly half of the world’s population cook with inefficient cook stoves that run on biomass fuel such as wood, charcoal, agriculture residual and dung (WHO, 2018; Owusu et al, 2015). These solid fuels are typically burnt in traditional, inefficient stoves causing high levels of household air pollution, considerably higher than World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended levels for particulate matter (PM)1, and frequently breaching guidelines for carbon monoxide and other pollutants (WHO, 2006). This has an adverse effect on health, the environment, climate and socio- economic development for both the individual and the larger community.
On issues of health, exposure to solid fuel smoke often through the use of traditional2 cook stoves is associated with over four (4) million annual deaths through adverse health implications like respiratory infections, ischemic heart diseases, stroke, lung cancer, and cataract formation (WHO, 2018; Wolf et al, 2017; Forouzanfar et al, 2015). The adverse health outcomes are chiefly caused by inhalation of fine soot particles ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter that are up to 20 times higher than the maximum recommended levels of the World Health Organization (WHO 2005; Smith et al. 2009).
1 Particulate Matter (PM): a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air (EPA, 2017)
2 traditional cook stoves include Coal/charcoal port and triangular stone open indoor/outdoor fires
Environmentally, the use of biomass fuel for cooking purpose by means of traditional cook stoves pollute the air and reduces the ambient air quality and also destroy local forest ecosystems (Lewis and Pattanayak, 2012; Köhlin et al. 2011; Geist and Lambin, 2001). In addition to adverse environmental and health effects, negative social impacts often result from using traditional biomass stoves. For example, inefficient stoves require more time to cook and more fuel per cooking. The extended time in cooking and gathering biomass fuel is burden usually borne by women and children, which diverts their time from education and other economic activities.
Though the solutions to these problems, such as replacing traditional cook stoves with improved or advanced biomass cook stoves or switching to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or other cleaner fuels are straightforward, most studies indicate households will depend on biomass energy or solid fuels for decades to come (World Bank, 2011). This is because these cleaner sources of energy are expensive and the poor majority cannot afford to buy. It is also relatively difficult to come by LPG and other cleaner fuels, especially those in the rural areas of developing countries. The expected change is therefore not a complete switch from solid biomass use, but rather the way in which it is used for domestic cooking activities.
Improved Cook Stoves (ICS) are cooking stoves that use biomass (charcoal, wood, paper or agriculture residuals) and are designed to maximize thermal and fuel efficiency, operate safely and minimize emissions harmful to human health (Urmee et al, 2014; Barnes et al, 1992). The WHO and other international organizations recognize that not only is the adoption of clean cooking solutions a health, economic, gender, and environmental imperative, it is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), goal 7. This, when achieved, will also facilitate the attainment of the other broader SDGs (WHO, 2018).
Despite the many apparent benefits from a switch to improved cook stoves, many stove programs have had a low rate of success (Bailis et al., 2009). Wolf et al, (2017) recognized the poor adoption
and utilization of the improved cook stoves by asserting that various programs promoting clean cook stoves frequently experienced problems; households did not sufficiently or sustainably use the new stove, nor did maintain or repair it when broken. The challenge of low adoption and utilization of ICSs have been linked to economic, social and behavioral factors (Owusu et al. 2015; Ouedraogo, 2006)
Problem Statement
The use of biomass fuel and traditional cook stoves still remain a global challenge with about 3 billion of the world’s population, mostly in developing countries relying on biomass fuel and inefficient cook stove for routine cooking and heating activities (WHO, 2018). This is the cause of some four (4) million premature annual deaths worldwide of which most are women and children (WHO, 2016). Furthermore, the WHO stipulates that emissions from traditional cook stoves hinder the development of women and children and degrade the environment. As part of it mandate, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG7) called for a sustainable, affordable and modern energy source and efficient cook stove technology to help mitigate the health, economic and environmental effects associated with the use of biomass fuel and inefficient traditional cook stoves (WHO, 2018).
While rural households rely more on biomass fuels than those in urban areas, well over half of all urban households in Sub-Saharan Africa still rely on traditional cook stoves to meet their cooking needs (IEA 2006). In Ghana, over 75% of urban dwellers use biomass fuel either as their main or auxiliary source of fuel (Energy Commission, 2013; Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). A study by Bawakyillenuo and Agbeli (2014) also found biomass energy to be widely consumed in Ga East Municipality (GEM) which presupposes that these consumers of biomass fuel also use either
traditional or improved cook stoves in their daily cooking and heating activities.
This heavy reliance of urban households in developing countries on solid fuel and traditional stoves cannot be switched for efficient fuels and stoves as it involves a complex socio-economic and cultural chain (World Bank, 2011). But with the introduction of the technologically improved cook stoves, it was expected that its adoption and use will reduce the negative effects associated with the traditional ineffective stove and transit households into efficient use of biomass. Despite the many stated health, economic and environmental benefits, adoption and utilization of improved cook stoves continue to be low even in urban areas (Rosa et al, 2014). Several factors including household settings, knowledge and perceptions (Malla and Timilsina, 2014), culture (Owusu et al, 2015) and level of income by household members have been attributed to influencing the adoption and frequency of utilization of improved cook stoves in developing countries.
In Ghana, biomass which consist mainly of wood fuel, like firewood, charcoal and to a lesser extent crop residues, account for about 50% of the Total domestic Energy Supply. In 2012, natural forests supplied majority – up to 90% of wood fuel consumed in Ghana while the remainder comes from wood waste, like sawmill residue and plantations (Government of Ghana, 2012). Bailis et al., 2015 also argued that the rate of wood fuel harvest is highly unsustainable with dire environmental and climate effects. National Policies such as The Strategic National Energy Plan (SNEP), 2010 and The National Energy Policy, 2011 contain government strategies to improve the efficient use of biomass fuel through the promotion of ICSs. However, the Ghana Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and Fuels (GHACCO) has called on the Government of Ghana for a comprehensive and dedicated national policy on clean cook stoves and fuels sector in Ghana. They argued this will help provide an effective mechanism to ensure the inclusion of clean cooking activities in the national development agenda (GHACCO, 2018)
It is therefore against this background that this study seeks to assess the state of adoption of improved cook stoves in Kwabenya, a suburb of the Ga East Municipality in the Greater Accra
region, to identify the state of adoption and potential barriers to adoption in the area. It is expected that findings from the study will contribute to the literature on the subject matter and provide policy makers with empirical data to inform decision making regarding adoption of ICS in urban areas.
Study Objectives
The main aim of the study is to identify the barriers that hamper household’s adoption of improved cook stoves.
The specific objectives of the study are:
- To assess the adoption status of improved cook stoves in Kwabenya in the Ga East Municipality.
- Determine the factors that influence adoption of improved cook stoves in Kwabenya in the Ga East Municipality.
- Determine the factors that influence the frequency of use of improved cook stoves in Kwabenya in the Ga East Municipality.
- Determine the barriers to improved cook stoves adoption in urban areas.
Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions:
- What is the adoption status of improved cook stoves in Kwabenya in the Ga East Municipality?
- What factors affect the adoption or not of improved cook stoves in Kwabenya in the Ga East Municipality?
- What influence the frequency of use of Improved Cook Stoves in Kwabenya in the Ga East Municipality?
