Determinants of urban household cooking fuel choice in ghana

The study is based on primary data collected from 507 randomly selected households in 52 towns in the Kumasi metropolis in Ghana in an attempt to investigate the factors that influence primary cooking fuels option in urban homes in Ghana and suggests alternative measures to improve the use of sustainable alternative fuels and cleaner cooking. Graphical and cross-tabulation methods are applied to data drawn from a survey conducted in the metropolis. Though woodfuel (charcoal and firewood) is found to dominate the household fuel portfolio with 43.2 %, the use of LPG in the metropolis is very high representing 40.4% which is above the national average of about 20 %. However, 89% of households that patronise liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also use charcoal as back up fuel due to the frequent and erratic shortages of LPG in the metropolis. The study indicates that low income prevents households from adopting cleaner fuels and efficient cooking options which involve high upfront costs. Also, affordability, availability of fuel and cooking rate of fuel and stove plays significant role in the type of fuel chosen.