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Traditional biomass is a major source of cooking and heating energy in
Tanzania. Although Tanzanian energy policy insists on the need to
diversify energy sources, the level of diversification at a household level is
not well known. This study identified energy use patterns and their
associated factors in Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. Specifically, the
study identified the types of cooking fuels and stoves available and used
by households, as well as how and why households combined various
cooking fuels. The household survey was conducted in 294 randomly
selected households in the districts of Rombo and Hai. We found that
although biomass is becoming scarce, it is still a major source of cooking
energy, combined with the traditional cooking stove. Only 10.2% of the
households reported full-time use of improved biomass cookstoves (ICS).
The rest combined ICS with the traditional stove, threatening the
sustainability of the biomass resource. It was found that 15% of ICS used
by households were abandoned due to various technical flaws. Factors like
woodlot ownership, kitchen location, electric grid connection, quality of
living, and sources of firewood were associated with partial switching of
households to either transition fuels or cleaner fuels. We conclude that
energy use patterns in this region demonstrate a partial switching of fuel
source, because some households use transition fuels or cleaner fuels
combined with firewood. Fuel diversification focused more on cooking
with biomass than moving to cleaner fuels. This implies that biomass will
continue to be a major source of cooking fuels for Tanzanian households
and, hence, ICS remains the best solution. For ICS to have a broad impact
and achieve more widespread use, it is necessary to address some
technical problems associated with ICS. The government of Tanzania
should revisit the cost of alternative energy sources like LPG to improve
their affordability for the masses. |
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