Old habits die hard: using the energy cultures framework to understand drivers of household-level energy transitions in urban Zambia

The study examines cooking behaviours in urban Lusaka, Zambia, finding that dominant cooking cultures are reinforced by social interactions, national policy, and market accessibility. It identifies a mismatch between household perceptions, which view change as a complex result of 'softer' intertwined factors, and expert views, which prioritise 'harder' determinants like fuel price and availability.

• Cooking behaviour in urban Lusaka is shaped and sustained by a combination of social interactions—including food taste expectations and the routine of buying charcoal—and external factors such as national policy regulations, the availability of charcoal markets, and a lack of appealing alternative technologies.
• There is a significant discrepancy between how households and sector experts perceive the drivers of change in cooking culture: households see it as a complex process driven by 'softer' intertwined factors, whereas experts focus on 'harder' determinants like fuel price, availability, and the cost of alternatives.
• The mismatch in understanding between households and experts suggests that top-down interventions aimed at diversifying cooking behaviour should better incorporate the role of norms, practices, and material culture.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2019). Old habits die hard: using the energy cultures framework to understand drivers of household-level energy transitions in urban Zambia. https://www.sei.org/publications/old-habits-die-hard-using-the-energy-cultures-framework-to-understand-drivers-of-household-level-energy-transitions-in-urban-zambia/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Old habits die hard: using the energy cultures framework to understand drivers of household-level energy transitions in urban Zambia. 2019. https://www.sei.org/publications/old-habits-die-hard-using-the-energy-cultures-framework-to-understand-drivers-of-household-level-energy-transitions-in-urban-zambia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Old habits die hard: using the energy cultures framework to understand drivers of household-level energy transitions in urban Zambia |date=8 March 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/old-habits-die-hard-using-the-energy-cultures-framework-to-understand-drivers-of-household-level-energy-transitions-in-urban-zambia/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2019old, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Old habits die hard: using the energy cultures framework to understand drivers of household-level energy transitions in urban Zambia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/old-habits-die-hard-using-the-energy-cultures-framework-to-understand-drivers-of-household-level-energy-transitions-in-urban-zambia/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }