Determinants of non-primary, primary, and exclusive use of liquefied petroleum gas vary significantly in a nationally representative survey in Ghana

Abstract

Clean cooking transitions can have profound public health, environmental and societal gains for 2.6 billion people in the Global South. We use data from the largest household energy survey (n= 7,389) in Ghana to provide novel insights. One, regression analysis with thirteen commonly cited socio-economic and demographic predictors indicates that these factors have remarkably different levels of influence at different stages of the transition process. We propose a stage-based intervention strategy and customer targeting approach that could be a paradigm shift in how clean cooking interventions are rolled out. Two, we identify factors that are associated with exclusive use of LPG using a statistically powered sample of exclusive LPG users (n= 693). We find that everything else being equal, increases in wealth, and residing in an urban location are not associated with a transition from primary to exclusive LPG use.