Electricity Access and Charcoal Use among Urban Households in Zambia

What is it about?

The use of charcoal as cooking fuel has been on the rise among urban households in sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia inclusive. Much of the policy debate has revolved around increasing access to electricity as a strategy to reduce charcoal use in urban areas. Using econometric modeling, this paper quantifies the effect of access to electricity on charcoal use among urban households in a developing country context.

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Why is it important?

Quantifying the effect of electricity access on household charcoal use contributes to understanding the extent to which electricity can help reduce urban reliance on charcoal as cooking fuel. This is important in informing energy policy interventions aimed to reduce charcoal use. Two important findings from this study are: 1) relative to households without access to electricity, households with access consume 54% less charcoal per month on average; 2) charcoal is not only prevalent in low-income households but also high-income households, although the latter group tends to use it in combination with electricity.

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