DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLDS DOMESTIC COOKING ENERGY CHOICE AND TECHNOLOGY IN MINNA, NIGER STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

Domestic energy poverty occasioned by acute shortages and frequent price fluctuation have compelled urban households to various cooking energy options. Reliance on modern energy for cooking especially electricity is questionable because of its epileptic nature, cost and inadequate infrastructure. Inaccessibility of modern domestic energy supply is among the research problems in the study area. The study is justified as a result of the irregularities in terms of availability and affordability of modern domestic cooking energy in Minna metropolis, the capital of Niger State. The main objective is to analyse households’ energy characteristics in order to discern the factors influencing households cooking fuel choices in Minna. The study hinges on energy access and poverty concepts from literature. Multistage sampling method involving delineation of the study area into 28 neighbourhoods was adopted. Descriptive statistics was employed in the analysis using SPSS. With kerosene being the prevalent domestic cooking energy type among electricity, gas, charcoal and fuel wood used with variety of cooking technologies, the study revealed that the major determinants of households’ fuel choice are affordability (29.5%) and availability (26.3%). The study concludes that the choice of cooking energy among the households is pattern less as all options at their disposal based on affordability and availability are explored. Besides promoting access to electric power being a very important dimension to consider in enhancing households’ access to energy, the study recommends improving modern energy supply, households’ income and education.