Transforming Household Energy Practices Among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia: a User-Centred Approach

The study examines the use of the traditional mbaula charcoal stove in Lusaka, Zambia, finding that while users are emotionally attached to the stove, they face significant financial burdens and health issues due to its inefficiency and fumes. The research highlights that cost is the primary driver of energy choices, and that poor households pay more for fuel due to cash-flow constraints. It proposes three main pathways for transformation: introducing locally-made, more efficient charcoal stoves that resemble the mbaula, promoting low-tech solar water heating, and restructuring electricity tariffs to make electric cooking affordable for the poor.

• Charcoal is the primary cooking fuel in urban Lusaka, and while electricity is desired, it is too expensive for low- and middle-income households to use for cooking.
• Financial constraints create a regressive pricing effect where the poorest households pay the highest price per kilogram for charcoal because they can only afford small, frequent purchases.
• Users maintain a strong emotional attachment to the traditional mbaula stove and rarely report problems when asked directly, despite observed deficiencies.
• Direct observation reveals the mbaula has significant drawbacks, including inefficient fuel use, difficulty in temperature regulation, and health-harming fumes that force users to cook outdoors.
• Cost is the primary determinant of energy practices; users are willing to accept health and safety trade-offs to maintain lower fuel costs, but would pay more for a stove that demonstrably reduces fuel consumption.
• The lack of innovation in the stove market is driven by the economic constraints of local tinsmiths, who cannot afford to invest time in redesigning the mbaula due to their daily production-and-sale cycle.
• The study recommends three specific strategies to reduce charcoal use: introducing locally produced efficient stoves that resemble the mbaula, promoting inexpensive solar water heating, and reforming electricity tariffs for the poor.
• Charcoal production and use in Zambia contribute to significant environmental degradation, including the loss of an average of 167,000 hectares of forest annually and the emission of black carbon and methane.

APA

Atteridge, A., Heneen, M., & Senyagwa, J. (2013). Transforming Household Energy Practices Among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia: a User-Centred Approach. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2013-04-Zambia-Cookstoves.pdf

Chicago

Atteridge, Aaron, Marcus Heneen, and Jacqueline Senyagwa. Transforming Household Energy Practices Among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia: a User-Centred Approach. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2013. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2013-04-Zambia-Cookstoves.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Atteridge |first1=Aaron |last2=Heneen |first2=Marcus |last3=Senyagwa |first3=Jacqueline |title=Transforming Household Energy Practices Among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia: a User-Centred Approach |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=July 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2013-04-Zambia-Cookstoves.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{atteridge2013transforming, author = {Atteridge, Aaron and Heneen, Marcus and Senyagwa, Jacqueline}, title = {{Transforming Household Energy Practices Among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia: a User-Centred Approach}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jul, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-WP-2013-04-Zambia-Cookstoves.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }