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Encouraging the adoption of clean cooking practices is a complex undertaking. It is often described as a two-step challenge: the initial uptake of a new cooking method, followed by its sustained use over time. To succeed, there are two major challenges that any clean cooking initiative must overcome. First, it needs to be affordable for consumers in low-income settings. Second, participating house- holds need to change cooking practices that are often deeply ingrained. This section considers what has been learned about these challenges and how they can be addressed. AFFORDABILITY Across all countries the uptake of clean cooking is concentrated among higher-in- come groups with the poorest lagging behind. This pattern holds even in countries where substantial public subsidies are in place to improve affordability. This makes it clear that cost, unsurprisingly, is a key factor in clean cooking access. While the cost of transitioning to clean cooking varies by technology and context, in most cases it requires upfront investment in a new cooking appliance and gen- erates fuel costs. The simplest improved cookstoves are priced at US$15-30, rep- resenting around a third of monthly income in low-income households in sub-Sa- haran Africa. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered and electric stoves average US$50-100, or between one half and three-quarters of monthly income, while bi- ogas stoves and digesters can be several times more expensive. 42 So far, few con- sumers in developing countries have spent more than US$30 on their primary cookstoves. 43 In terms of recurrent costs, many households without clean cooking already pur- chase solid fuels such as charcoal and firewood, which represents a significant out- lay for them each month. In these cases, improved biomass cookstoves can quickly repay the investment. However, for the many households that collect their own bio- mass, fuel costs may be unaffordable. The affordability challenge also rises sharply in rural areas, where lack of infrastructure and weaker markets lead to higher dis- tribution and fuel costs. There is a range of potential solutions to the affordability challenge. Public subsidies may be necessary in order to lower the costs for the poorest households. However, experience shows that subsidy programs need to be well-designed and targeted. If not, they can create major fiscal burdens for governments and disproportionately
Average price of simplest improved cookstoves: US$ 15-30
42 IEA (2023) A Vision for Clean Cooking Access for All, World Energy outlook Special Report, https://www. iea.org/reports/a-vision-for-clean-cooking-access-for-all 43 ESMAP (2015) The State of the Global Clean and Improved Cooking Sector, https://www.esmap.org/sites/ esmap.org/files/DocumentLibrary/ESMAP_State_of_Globa_Clean_Improved_Cooking_sector_Optimized.pdf
2. CHALLENGES IN THE CLEAN COOKING TRANSITION
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