Multi-criteria assessment of the appropriateness of a cooking technology: A case study of the Logone Valley

Abstract

The choice of fuel for cooking, particularly in rural areas, can lead to significant socio-economic and environmental impacts amongst households. Using the Logone Valley on the border between Chad and Cameroon as the case study region, this study sought to evaluate appropriate cooking technologies for the case study region. Several alternatives to traditional three-stone fire were evaluated, including the: ceramic stove, Centrafricain stove, parabolic solar cooker, biodigester, LPG stove, and mlc rice husk stove. Four main clusters were investigated, structuring quantifiable indicators for financial, environmental, social and health related impacts of the use of a certain energy technology. The findings suggest that the Centrafricain stove alone or in combination with the mlc stove, was the most appropriate cooking technology for use in the case study region. These technologies were more appropriate than the traditional cooking system of the three stone fire. The use of four clusters of criteria, within a weighted system, coupled with the views of users, experts and literature, as well as the scope of the criteria employed enabled a reliable and valid approach to understanding the most appropriate cooking technology to recommend.