Socio-Economic Determinants of Household Cooking Fuel Choices: Evidences from Kailali,District Nepal

Abstract

Cooking with effective, renewable, and healthy fuels is critical for both health and environmental benefits, but nearly half of the world's population lacks access to reliable, affordable, and clean cooking facilities. Despite efforts to disseminate improved cooking facilities, a large number of Kailali District households continue to use traditional fuel, especially firewood. Households' failure to embrace modern fuel appears to be due to socioeconomic and product-related factors. The objective of this research is to identify the key factor influencing household fuel choice. Based on the questionnaire applied to 190 households, this study explored the energy choice behavior. Similarly, the required data are obtained from secondary sources such as Central Bureau of Statistics, International Energy Agency, Water and Energy Commission Secretariat 2010 and 2014, journals, and articles. The multinomial regression is used to identify the household fuel choice. This model describes the behavior of consumer, when they are provided with variety of alternatives with the common consumption objectives. According to the study, household income has a major impact on the decision to move from traditional to modern fuel. Household size, age, education, marital status, and ethnicity have minor effect on household fuel choice behavior. Firewood is the predominate indigenous source of energy, providing 85.91 percent of the district's energy needs. In Kailari Gaupalika as well, firewood has remained the major source of household energy. It meets 67.37 percent of the energy requirement for cooking in Kailari Gaupalika households and 45.27 percent of the energy requirement for cooking in Dhangadhi SMPC households. In comparison to Kailari Gauplaika, Dhangadhi SMPC used the least bio gas and the most LPG. The findings indicate that policies and interventions that increase household income and improve household education contribute in the adoption of modern energy sources in the Kailali District.