Assessing the awareness, adoptability and sustainability of improved pellet cook stoves of low income households in Lusaka, Zambia.

In order to attain sustainable development, there is need for clean and reliable energy. Woodfuel (charcoal and firewood) make up over 70 percent of the national energy consumption in Zambia as only about 25 percent of the population has access to electricity. It is among the most important domestic fuels for low income households in Zambia. Cooking with solid fuels and inefficient cook stoves has adverse effects for human wellbeing, health and the environment. One initiative for sustainable energy provision in urban Zambia has been the introduction of improved cook stoves (ICS) based on sawdust pellets to replace traditional cooking on charcoal braziers that have dominated usage in homes since the 1930s.

One of the main motivations for improved cook stove interventions has been to reduce household demand for woodfuel thus to reduce pressures on deforestation. However, adoption of improved cook stoves designed to reduce these impacts remain relatively low while the demand for woodfuel remains predominantly high. Using a user centred approach, the study investigated the awareness, adoptability and sustainability of improved pellet cook stoves in view of government policies of Matero- George compound, Lusaka low income households. It sought the factors influencing households’ preference of traditional or modern cook stoves, the knowledge of available energy options, the challenges households had relating to their current cooking solutions and the options available to them and the appropriateness and effectiveness of government policies promoting the use of improved cooking technologies.