The impact of financial shocks on the continued use of clean cooking technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

Clean cooking represents an important pathway through which households in Sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to environmental sustainability and improve health outcomes. While previous studies have primarily examined the determinants of initial adoption of clean-cooking technologies, much less is known about whether households can sustain their use over time, particularly when continued use requires recurring expenditures such as LPG refills and electricity payments. Financial shocks may constrain households’ ability to maintain clean-cooking practices. Understanding this relationship is important for policymakers and businesses seeking to promote durable clean-cooking transitions. This paper addresses this gap using panel data from the Nigeria General Household Survey–Panel, covering Wave 4 (2018/2019) and Wave 5 (2023/2024). We apply a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the effect of financial shocks experienced between survey waves on sustained clean-cooking use. The results indicate that households experiencing financial shocks are 6.5 percentage points less likely to sustain clean-cooking use and 12.4 percentage points more likely to revert to traditional cooking fuels. The reduction in sustained clean-cooking use is particularly pronounced among rural households, where financial shocks are associated with a 13.1-percentage-point decline. These findings highlight that clean-cooking adoption is not necessarily an irreversible transition and that the sustainability of clean-cooking use depends partly on households’ ability to withstand temporary economic adversity. Policies and business models that reduce short-term liquidity constraints, such as smaller LPG refill options or pay-as-you-go systems, could complement efforts to expand clean-cooking adoption by helping households maintain clean-cooking use during periods of financial stress.