Clean cooking for all? A critical review of behavior, stakeholder engagement, and adoption for the global diffusion of improved cookstoves

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Abstract

Improved cookstoves and solar cookers have been positioned as a socio-technical strategy for improving household health and economics, and for reducing the negative impacts on the environment associated with the combustion of residential solid fuels in low- and middle-income countries. However, adoption and sustained use of these technologies have not been realized. This critical review examines the ways in which cookstove programs use information-sharing and education-related Behavior Change Communication techniques to engage all stakeholders within a household to promote long-term cookstove usage. Findings indicate that few cookstove and solar cooker adoption studies (n = 18) report such strategies, and of those that do, rarely are men (n = 4), often the primary financial decision makers of a household, or children (n = 3), current and future users of cookstoves, purposefully engaged. Included papers report cookstove adoption metrics in a variety of ways, preventing direct comparisons between studies, by stakeholder, or behavior change strategy. Despite the lack of standardized adoption metrics, this review finds that comprehensive educational initiatives, as opposed to training or simple information provision, as part of a behavior change strategy may advance sustained use of cooking technologies. This represents an unexplored area of improved energy research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number101539
JournalEnergy Research and Social Science
Volume68
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2020

Keywords

  • Behavior change communication
  • Education
  • Education for sustainable development
  • Improved cookstove
  • Solar cooker
  • Technology adoption

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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