Wealth, education and cooking-fuel choices among rural households in Pakistan

Abstract

Clean and modern fuel for cooking is essential for safeguarding good health for women and children and enhancing the well-being of people in the least developed countries. A large section of the rural population in the least developed countries still use fuelwood, and dung cake and residue for cooking, which is harmful to the environment and human health. This paper uses the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLSMS), 2014-15 to investigate the cooking-fuel use patterns and factors influencing rural household choices. The results show that a significant number of rural households use fuelwood, dung and crop residue for cooking and a tiny fraction of households use natural gas. Low-income families with a lower level of schooling of household head are likely to depend on fuelwood, and dung cake and crop residues. Multinomial logit results show that household heads with higher human capital and physical and financial assets are more likely to use modern fuel such as natural gas, and are less likely to use fuelwood and, dung cake and crop residues. Empirical findings also indicate that education is the main driver of clean fuel adoption for cooking in rural Pakistan. Hence the energy policy should focus on the investment in human capital to enhance the adoption of clean fuel for cooking. Keywords: Cooking fuels, Rural, Natural gas, Education, Wealth, Pakistan, JEL classification: Q40, R20