Learning from Cooks: a User-Centred Approach to Help Transform Household Energy Use

The briefing highlights the failure of many clean cookstove programmes to achieve long-term uptake because they prioritise technical parameters over user needs. Using research from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and India, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) advocates for combining quantitative economic models with qualitative ethnographic research to understand the trade-offs and cultural preferences of households. A case study in Haryana, India, demonstrates that factors such as the ability to use dung cakes, the need for an open flame for roti, and aesthetic appeal are critical to user acceptance. The document recommends that global policies and standards for cookstoves incorporate 'usability' parameters and local user-focused research to successfully transform household energy markets.

• Traditional biomass cooking is linked to severe health and environmental issues, contributing to an estimated 1.6 million deaths annually from acute respiratory infections and producing black carbon, which is the second-largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.
• The primary reason for the failure of many clean cookstove programmes to transform markets is a neglect of the users' specific needs, preferences, and constraints within their unique contexts.
• SEI employs a dual research methodology: the Household Energy Economic Analysis (HHEA) uses stated-preference surveys to model economic trade-offs regarding cost and safety, while qualitative 'generative' research captures ethnographic data on social norms, habits, and emotional relations to technology.
• A 2011 assessment in Haryana State, India, revealed that while women dislike the smoke of traditional clay chulhas, they value them because they are free to make, allow for the use of dung cakes to regulate heat, provide an open flame for roti, and possess aesthetic appeal that metal stoves lack.
• To improve the success of cookstove interventions, evaluation protocols must move beyond technical parameters (like fuel savings and pollution reduction) to include 'usability' parameters and local user-focused research.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2012). Learning from Cooks: a User-Centred Approach to Help Transform Household Energy Use. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2012-Cookstoves.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Learning from Cooks: a User-Centred Approach to Help Transform Household Energy Use. 2012. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2012-Cookstoves.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Learning from Cooks: a User-Centred Approach to Help Transform Household Energy Use |date=2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2012-Cookstoves.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2012learning, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Learning from Cooks: a User-Centred Approach to Help Transform Household Energy Use}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-DB-2012-Cookstoves.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }