Acceso usuarios
Michael Shadrack Mangula, Joseph A. Kuzilwa, Simon S. Msanjila, Isack A. Legonda
Using traditional sources of energy for cooking in rural areas of Tanzania is associated with problems such as lung diseases, soil erosion and air pollution. This paper identifies the energy sources used for cooking and its determinants in rural areas of Tanzania. Cross-sectional survey design through questionnaire was used to collect data from 384 households living in rural areas of Njombe and Iringa regions in Tanzania. Multistage cluster sampling technique was employed to sample districts, wards and villages, while rural heads of households were sampled randomly using the fishbowl method to avoid biasness. Descriptive analysis such as frequencies and percentages were used. Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) techniques was used to estimate the parameters of factors determining the choices of energy sources for cooking in rural areas of Tanzania. The findings show that firewood is the main source of energy for cooking, followed by charcoal, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electricity in rural areas of Tanzania. The study shows that education, household size, occupation, income, and age of respondents determine the choices of energy sources for cooking. It can be concluded that, apart from improving income, other intervention such as family planning, reforestation programmes and promotion of the use of modern cooking stoves should be done to ensure sustainable development in rural areas of Tanzania
