Old habits die hard: Using the energy cultures framework to understand drivers of household-level energy transitions in urban Zambia

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on household energy transitions by highlighting the case of household cooking in urban Lusaka, Zambia. Through 32 targeted sector expert and household level interviews, we use the “Energy Cultures Framework” to identify normative, material and practice related determinants of the dominant cooking culture(s). We find that cooking behaviour is determined and self-reinforced through everyday social interactions, such as expectations of food taste, the practice of purchasing charcoal, and the ability to undertake daily chores in combination with cooking. The current dominant cooking culture(s) meets little resistance but is reinforced by external factors such as national policy regulation, lack for attractive alternative technologies and accessible charcoal markets. We also explore what might drive change of the dominant cooking culture(s) and find that perceptions vary notably between households and sector experts. While households generally recognise that a change in cooking culture is complex to bring about - as it is determined by a multitude of intertwined “softer” factors - sector experts consistently highlighted “harder” determinants of cooking behaviour such as fuel availability, fuel price and the cost of alternatives as the main triggers of change. This mismatch in understanding of how change is enabled about suggests that top-led interventions to diversify cooking behaviour have much to gain from further considering how norms, practices and material culture determine dominant energy culture(s) in a society.