Barriers and Facilitators to the Adoption and Sustained Use of Cleaner Fuels in Southwest Cameroon: Situating 'Lay' Knowledge within Evidence-Based Policy and Practice.

Debbi Stanistreet,Nigel Bruce,Lirije Hyseni,Rachel Anderson De Cuevas,Oluwakorede Adekoje,Daniel Pope,Sara Ronzi,Bertrand Mbatchou Ngahane,Elisa Puzzolo,James Higgerson

doi:10.3390/ijerph16234702

Abstract

Approximately four million people die each year in low- and middle-income countries from household air pollution (HAP) due to inefficient cooking with solid fuels. Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) offers a clean energy option in the transition towards renewable energy. This qualitative study explored lay knowledge of barriers and facilitators to scaling up clean fuels in Cameroon, informed by Quinn et al.’s Logic Model. The model has five domains and we focused on the user and community needs domain, reporting the findings of 28 semi-structured interviews (SSIs) and four focus group discussions (FGDs) that explored the reasons behind fuel use choices. The findings suggest that affordability, safety, convenience, and awareness of health issues are all important influences on decision making to the adoption and sustained use of LPG, with affordability being the most critical issue. We also found the ability of clean fuels to meet cooking needs to be central to decision-making, rather than an aspect of convenience, as the logic model suggests. Local communities provide important insights into the barriers and facilitators to using clean fuels. We adapt Quinn et al.’s logic model accordingly, giving more weight to lay knowledge so that it is better positioned to inform policy development.

Highlights

IntroductionHousehold air pollution (HAP) generated from the incomplete combustion of solid fuels used on inefficient stoves or open (three stone) fires (Figure 1a) causes close to four million deaths each year [1]
The study design included an initial survey of cooking practices among 1577 households, the results of which are reported in Pope et al, [38]
In order to evaluate how well the logic model represents user and community perceptions, we discuss our findings mainly in relation to the five aspects highlighted under that domain in Quinn et al.’s Logic Model

Summary

Introduction

Household air pollution (HAP) generated from the incomplete combustion of solid fuels used on inefficient stoves or open (three stone) fires (Figure 1a) causes close to four million deaths each year [1]. HAP has been causally related to pneumonia in children and cardiovascular and chronic obstructive. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4702; doi:10.3390/ijerph16234702 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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Conclusion