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benefit wealthier households. Tackling market distortions, waste, bureaucracy and financial misallocation are also other potential solutions. On the private sector side, clean cook- ing firms are developing business models that maximize af- fordability, such as pay-as-you-go models and making use of carbon credits to lower prices. These options are considered further in Chapter 5. It should be noted, however, that stud- ies have shown that providing highly subsidized cookstoves, even to the point where they are given away at no cost, does not necessarily lead to changes in cooking practices. 44 This is because cooking behaviors are strongly influenced by in- dividual perceptions, value judgements, traditions, and prac- tices. Moreover, weak supply chains for delivering LPG high- lights that a free cookstove is of little worth without the fuel to use it. A further issue to note is the inappropriate use of cookstoves, poor maintenance, and unhelpful instructions as additional reasons why cookstoves may not be used regularly over time. Indeed, studies have shown that expenditure on cleaner fuels such as LPG is generally lower than daily household costs for charcoal and purchased firewood. This is true even in rural settings. 45 This suggests that high perceived costs can be a significant barrier to adoption. In addition, studies show that, among target communities for clean cooking, there is often high uptake of technologies such as televisions and mobile phones, despite their high ini- tial cost. 46 This suggests that the challenge is not simply one of affordability, but of convincing households of the value of the outlay. This is made more difficult by the fact that wom- en are the primary beneficiaries of clean cooking, but often have limited control over household expenditure and deci- sion-making. Gender inequity is therefore a barrier to the roll- out of clean cooking, determining in particular the pace at which households make the transition.
“When I recall our first meetings with ministers – they thought clean cooking is only about very poor people with no money, and the immediate thought is only on subsidies for technology. But let’s be more sophisticated, divide areas into target groups and utilise smart subsidies. In some locations, you have a growing middle class in rural areas that can finance a US$10-50 clean cookstove, yet are held back by lack of knowledge and awareness.” – SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
44 R. Hanna, E. Duflo & M. Greenstone, “Up in Smoke: The Influence of Household Behaviour on the Long-Run Impact of Improved Cooking Stoves”, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Vol. 8(1), February 2016, pp. 80-114, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/remahanna/files/1_stoves.pdf 45 Gill-Wiehl, A., Sivers, S., Katakura, R. et al., (2023) Evaluation of the preference for and viability of clean cookstove adoption in rural Tanzania, Energy, Sustainability and Society, https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/ articles/10.1186/s13705-023-00422-3 46 Rousseau, N., et al., (2021) Overcoming the “Affordability Challenge” associated with the transition to electric cooking, MECS, https://mecs.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2021/01/MECS-report-affordability-challenge-Final-2.pdf
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