How to increase cookstove adoption? Exploring cost-effective dissemination techniques in Central Mozambique

Abstract

The adoption and usage of improved cookstoves have been promoted in the Global South to mitigate the adverse effects of relying on solid biomass for cooking. However, the uptake and continued use of improved cookstoves remain low. Several behavioral changing techniques have been used to increase the adoption of improved cooking stoves. Still, the monetary costs involved in the dissemination process are generally neglected, and few studies follow an experimental design to evaluate the impact of different stove dissemination approaches. Thus, we conducted an experiment to explore the cost-effectiveness of dissemination approaches and measure their effect on improved cookstoves adoption in Central Mozambique. Forty communities were randomly assigned to receive one of the following treatments: (1) individual video training, (2) on-site group training or (3) a combination of both. In total, 620 households we randomly selected from the 40 communities to participate in the study and 510 were included in the final analysis. The rates of adoption within each treatment were 53 % for individual video training, 21 % for on-site group training and 47 % for the combination of both. The monetary training costs were lower for individual video training, which stimulated the early and sustained adoption of improved cook stoves. Our findings provide strong evidence that the tool used for capacity building affects the adoption of improved cookstoves. Extension agencies should be aware of cost-effectiveness and adjust dissemination approaches to achieve the highest impact per unit of resource expenditure.