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How do People in Rural India Perceive Improved Stoves and Clean Fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand

Author

Listed:
  • Vasundhara Bhojvaid

    (Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, Delhi 110007, India)

  • Marc Jeuland

    (Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, P.O. Box 90239, Durham, NC 27708, USA
    Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA)

  • Abhishek Kar

    (The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi 110003, India)

  • Jessica J. Lewis

    (Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA)

  • Subhrendu K. Pattanayak

    (Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, P.O. Box 90239, Durham, NC 27708, USA
    Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
    Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA)

  • Nithya Ramanathan

    (Nexleaf Analytics, Los Angeles, CA 90064, USA)

  • Veerabhadran Ramanathan

    (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California—San Diego, San Diego, CA 92037, USA)

  • Ibrahim H. Rehman

    (The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi 110003, India)

Abstract

Improved cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver the triple benefits of improved household health and time savings, reduced deforestation and local environmental degradation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. Yet diffusion of ICS technologies among potential users in many low-income settings, including India, remains slow, despite decades of promotion. This paper explores the variation in perceptions of and preferences for ICS in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as revealed through a series of semi-structured focus groups and interviews from 11 rural villages or hamlets. We find cautious interest in new ICS technologies, and observe that preferences for ICS are positively related to perceptions of health and time savings. Other respondent and community characteristics, e.g., gender, education, prior experience with clean stoves and institutions promoting similar technologies, and social norms as perceived through the actions of neighbours, also appear important. Though they cannot be considered representative, our results suggest that efforts to increase adoption and use of ICS in rural India will likely require a combination of supply-chain improvements and carefully designed social marketing and promotion campaigns, and possibly incentives, to reduce the up-front cost of stoves.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasundhara Bhojvaid & Marc Jeuland & Abhishek Kar & Jessica J. Lewis & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Nithya Ramanathan & Veerabhadran Ramanathan & Ibrahim H. Rehman, 2014. "How do People in Rural India Perceive Improved Stoves and Clean Fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:2:p:1341-1358:d:32527
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Jonathan Thornburg & Sajia Islam & Sk Masum Billah & Brianna Chan & Michelle McCombs & Maggie Abbott & Ashraful Alam & Camille Raynes-Greenow, 2022. "Pregnant Women’s Exposure to Household Air Pollution in Rural Bangladesh: A Feasibility Study for Poriborton: The CHANge Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Alison Pye & Sara Ronzi & Bertrand Hugo Mbatchou Ngahane & Elisa Puzzolo & Atongno Humphrey Ashu & Daniel Pope, 2020. "Drivers of the Adoption and Exclusive Use of Clean Fuel for Cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa: Learnings and Policy Considerations from Cameroon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-24, August.
    4. Jacqueline Hollada & Kendra N. Williams & Catherine H. Miele & David Danz & Steven A. Harvey & William Checkley, 2017. "Perceptions of Improved Biomass and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Stoves in Puno, Peru: Implications for Promoting Sustained and Exclusive Adoption of Clean Cooking Technologies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-14, February.

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