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How do people in rural India perceive improved stoves and clean fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bhojvaid, V; Jeuland, M; Kar, A; Lewis, JJ; Pattanayak, SK; Ramanathan, N; Ramanathan, V; Rehman, IH
Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health
January 2014

Improved cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver the triple benefits of improved household health and time savings, reduced deforestation and local environmental degradation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. Yet diffusion of ICS technologies among potential users in many low-income settings, including India, remains slow, despite decades of promotion. This paper explores the variation in perceptions of and preferences for ICS in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as revealed through a series of semi-structured focus groups and interviews from 11 rural villages or hamlets. We find cautious interest in new ICS technologies, and observe that preferences for ICS are positively related to perceptions of health and time savings. Other respondent and community characteristics, e.g., gender, education, prior experience with clean stoves and institutions promoting similar technologies, and social norms as perceived through the actions of neighbours, also appear important. Though they cannot be considered representative, our results suggest that efforts to increase adoption and use of ICS in rural India will likely require a combination of supply-chain improvements and carefully designed social marketing and promotion campaigns, and possibly incentives, to reduce the up-front cost of stoves.

Duke Scholars

Published In

International journal of environmental research and public health

DOI

EISSN

1660-4601

ISSN

1661-7827

Publication Date

January 2014

Volume

11

Issue

2

Start / End Page

1341 / 1358

Related Subject Headings

  • Toxicology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Public Opinion
  • Male
  • India
  • Humans
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Focus Groups
  • Female
  • Energy-Generating Resources
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Bhojvaid, V., Jeuland, M., Kar, A., Lewis, J. J., Pattanayak, S. K., Ramanathan, N., … Rehman, I. H. (2014). How do people in rural India perceive improved stoves and clean fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(2), 1341–1358. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110201341

Published In

International journal of environmental research and public health

DOI

EISSN

1660-4601

ISSN

1661-7827

Publication Date

January 2014

Volume

11

Issue

2

Start / End Page

1341 / 1358

Related Subject Headings

  • Toxicology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Public Opinion
  • Male
  • India
  • Humans
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Focus Groups
  • Female
  • Energy-Generating Resources