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Understanding the household cooking fuel transition
Author(s) -
Schunder Torsten,
BagchiSen Sharmistha
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geography compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.587
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 1749-8198
DOI - 10.1111/gec3.12469
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , business , process (computing) , natural resource economics , rural area , economic growth , public economics , economics , political science , psychology , communication , computer science , law , operating system
Three billion people use biomass and other harmful cooking fuels (e.g., charcoal) worldwide. This poses a significant risk to health and deters human development. Policies have been implemented to promote the use of modern cooking fuels, but the outcomes have been uneven. The problem continues to affect the poor, especially in rural and remote areas, in disproportionate ways. While technological solutions exist, widespread adoption has been slow due to various barriers to transition at the household level. In this paper, we provide a review of the findings from studies on household cooking fuel transition to show the various factors that affect the process. We not only acknowledge the role of policy but also emphasize the need for understanding the mismatch between broader policy and local household response to policy surrounding cooking fuel use.