BMC Public Health 2012, 12:359
A Strategy to Increase Adoption of Locally-produced, Ceramic Cookstoves in Rural Kenyan Households
Benjamin J Silk, et al.
Exposure to household air pollutants released during cooking has been linked to numerous adverse health outcomes among residents of rural areas in low-income countries. Improved cookstoves are one of few available interventions, but achieving equity in cookstove access has been challenging.
Therefore, innovative approaches are needed. We describe the roles of local vendors, behavior change, promotional incentives, and integration of cookstoves with household water treatment interventions to motivate adoption of locally-produced, ceramic cookstoves (upesi jiko) in an impoverished, rural African population.
Methods: The project was conducted in 60 rural Kenyan villages in 2008 and 2009.
Baseline (n=1250) and follow-up (n=293) surveys and a stove-tracking database were analyzed.
Results: At baseline, greater than or equal to 95% of respondents used wood and firepits for cooking; 98% desired smoke reductions. Households with upesi jiko subsequently spent <100 Shillings/week on firewood more often (40%) than households without upesi jiko (20%) (p=0.0002).
Vendors installed 1,124 upesi jiko in 757 households in 18 months; 68% of these transactions involved incentives. During an initial, eight-month assessment period in 10 villages, 159 (75%) of 213 upesi jiko sales occurred in five villages where vendors received behavior change training.
Adoption was greater where household water treatment occurred (p=0.004).
Conclusions: Our combined strategy effectively motivated the adoption of cookstoves into a large number of households. The mobilization and training of local vendors as well as appropriate promotion and pricing incentives created opportunities to reinforce health messages and promote the sale and installation of cookstoves.
Additional applications of similar strategies will be needed to determine whether our strategy can be exported equitably and whether reductions in fuel use, household air pollution, and the incidence of respiratory diseases will follow.
