Determinants of Household Cooking Energy Choice in Public Housing Estates in Maiduguri, Borno State, North-East Nigeria

Abstract

The growing utilization of traditional energy sources particularly in developing countries has in recent times been drawing disturbing attention from researchers and policy makers in view of the environmental and health consequences associated with such fuels. Hence the need to empirically examine the economic and socio-demographic factors that drive household cooking energy choice in public housing estates in Maiduguri, Borno State, North-East Nigeria. A survey questionnaire was used to elicit data from a sample of 355 household-heads from the target population of 3,192 households using systematic sampling technique. Multinomial Logistic Regression was used to analyze the probability of households’ choice of different energy types used for cooking purposes. The results revealed that higher income, higher educational level, occupation of the household head; location of residence, kitchen type and ownership of dwelling had positive effects on the probability of choosing cleaner sources of energy for cooking. Meanwhile, lower income and larger household size had positive correlation with the likelihood of choosing traditional energy sources such as fuelwood and charcoal as the primary cooking energy source among households. It is recommended that policy makers and stakeholders in the energy sector should take adequate and proactive steps that will promote access to cleaner, efficient, affordable and modern sources of energy for household cooking activities in Borno State, North-east Nigeria.