Spatial Inequality In Clean Cooking Energy Usage In Southern Nigeria Regions

Adewara Sunday Olabisi

doi:10.64423/arpa.v34i2.89

Authors

Adewara Sunday Olabisi Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria & Department of Business Management and Economics, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7704-5050

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64423/arpa.v34i2.89

Keywords:

Energy, Inequality, Region, Cooking, Clean

Abstract

Clean cooking energy is healthier than unclean cooking energy, yet its adoption, especially at sub-national levels, remains less researched. This paper examined spatial inequality in the use of clean cooking energy across three regions in southern Nigeria using the 2024 National Demographic Health Survey. A combination of concentration indices and curves, along with Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, was used to quantify inequality in the use of clean cooking energy across rural and urban areas and among the three regions of southern Nigeria. The results showed that the use of clean cooking energy is highest in the southwest and lowest in the southeastern region. While about 56% of households in the southwest are predicted to use clean cooking energy, only 36% are predicted to do so in the southeast. Urban households in southern Nigeria have a higher predicted probability of using clean cooking energy than their rural counterparts.

The concentration index of 0.1193 for the southwest region indicates that households in the region are better off than those in the southeast and south-south regions. While the clean cooking energy use concentration index was 0.0133 in the south-south, it was -0.1326 in the southeast. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition confirmed the concentration indices result for each region. The study suggests that region-specific policies to improve clean cooking energy use should be implemented instead of the usual general approach.

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