Factors Influencing Household Cooking Fuel Choices in Ghana

Charlotte Ofori, University of Ghana
Francis Nii-Amoo Dodoo, Pennsylvania State University and University of Ghana

The proportion of Ghanaian households using modern fuels for cooking has increased over the years: between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of households using non-biomass fuels rose from 9.6 percent to 20.4 percent. Leaning on the energy ladder hypothesis, this study sought to explore whether, with increasing wealth, households are more likely to move towards cleaner fuels. We found that fully one-quarter of the increase in clean fuels was explained by changes in wealth. Decomposition analysis further revealed intriguing contradictions, most notably in our findings about the contribution of white collar—per education and occupation—members of society to the revolution in clean fuel usage. Changes in the educational distribution to the usage of non-biomass fuels by the most educated actually attenuated the increase in clean fuel usage. Similarly, the rates of usage of clean fuels by households headed by professionals (occupation) actually declined across the decade.