Understanding Adoption for Clean Cookstoves: A Demand Study

Columbia University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Consumer Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: LPG subsidy; Behavioral: Distance allocation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04454944

AAAS9921

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of the Adoption study is to determine how best to encourage people to adopt clean cookstoves in order to diminish the global health risk of household air pollution. The study harnesses an existing cohort in Ghana to study factors that increase the adoption of clean cookstoves, and to test strategies to promote adoption and continued use. Limited past research has shown that the demand for clean cookstoves is low, and that households continue to use traditional hearths even when they have clean cookstoves. This behavior threatens to undermine clean cookstove intervention programs, such as those promoted by the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. The proposed study aims to ascertain the demand curve for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) in the Kintampo North Municipality and South district.

Full description

The study will assess if demand for LPG in rural settings in Ghana is price elastic - and by how much - by providing different levels of LPG price subsidies. It will also ascertain if demand is influenced by distance by allocating participants to varying distances to points of LPG supply. Finally, it will assess factors that could affect the demand for LPG such as availability and price of other fuels for cooking, and income levels.

In particular the objectives of the study are:

1. To determine if demand for LPG is price elastic
2. To determine if demand for LPG is influenced by distance
3. To ascertain what other factors aside the price of LPG, and distance to point of LPG supply, determine the demand for LPG
4. To document the successes and challenges of introducing a subsidy for LPG in rural settings

Enrollment: 890 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female
• 18 years of age or older
• Primary cook of the household
• Part of the Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS) sample or reside in a sample village
• Owns an LPG stove and cylinder (provided by the project in the case of newly recruited households)

Exclusion Criteria

• Temporarily residing in study area.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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890 participants in 4 patient groups

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

All individuals in each arm will have a well-functioning LPG cookstove and gas cylinder. Participants in the control arm will receive no other intervention.

No subsidy, distance variation

Experimental group

Description:

All individuals in each arm will have a well-functioning LPG cookstove and gas cylinder. This intervention arm will receive an assigned depot where they have to make liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) purchases.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Distance allocation

Subsidy, no distance variation

Experimental group

Description:

All individuals in each arm will have a well-functioning LPG cookstove and gas cylinder. This intervention arm receives a price subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) purchases.

Treatment:

Behavioral: LPG subsidy

Subsidy, distance variation

Experimental group

Description:

All individuals in each arm will have a well-functioning LPG cookstove and gas cylinder. This intervention arm receives a price subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas) (LPG) purchases an assigned depot where they have to make liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) purchases.

Treatment:

Behavioral: LPG subsidy

Behavioral: Distance allocation