EVALUATION OF HOUSEHOLDS COOKING ENERGY CHOICE DECISIONS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Household surveys across Akwa Ibom State, an oil-rich State in Nigeria that include questions on energy use, show that the most cited primary energy for cooking is fuelwood, followed by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and then Kerosine. Household cooking energy accounts for a significant part of the total energy consumed in Nigeria. The study investigated the factors influencing the Household choice of cooking energy and the type preferred in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data were obtained through oral interviews and the administration of structured questionnaire on 160 randomly sampled households from the study area. Descriptive statistics and a multinomial logistic regression model were used to analyze the data. The results showed that half of the population utilized fuelwood. On the other hand, only a small proportion used kerosene (15.0%), liquefied petroleum gas [LPG] (31.9%) and charcoal (3.1%) for their daily cooking. The most preferred cooking energy was LPG (65.5%), followed by kerosene (25.6%), fuelwood (6.4%), and charcoal (2.5%), respectively. The coefficient of household size (p<0.05), level of education (p<0.01), location (p<0.01), and homeownership (p<0.01) had a negative and statistically significant relationship with households’ preference for charcoal and fuelwood compared to LPG. Age (p<0.01) had a positively and significant influence on the household’s decision to use fuelwood and the type preferred. Sensitizing households on importance and use of clean and sustainable cooking energy sources is necessary to achieve sustainable development in the area.