Nearly three billion people around the world use traditional cookstoves and fuels. According to the World Health Organization, the resulting air pollution leads to an estimated four million preventable deaths per year.

In Ghana, more than 70 percent of households use wood or charcoal as their primary cooking fuel. The main alternative to traditional fuels is liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and the Government of Ghana has established the goal of 50% access to LPG by 2030. Despite ambitious policy goals targeting LPG use and numerous programs to increase adoption, dependence on traditional fuels remains high, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas and among low-income Ghanaians. 

This CWP project took a novel approach to address this challenge. Faculty, researchers and staff from the Mailman School of Public Health and Lamont Doherty at Columbia University partnered with researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara, and Kintampo Health Research Centre in Ghana to deploy new research and interventions in behavior change, public health, technology, and health communications tools. The project aimed to increase the adoption of clean cooking technologies that reduce household air pollution. 

The project was implemented in two phases. In Phase I (2019-2023), a series of assessments were conducted to understand the factors and conditions that could increase adoption of new cooking technologies in Ghana: (1) a needs assessment, which entailed a national household energy survey as well as community-level energy assessments in order to understand current energy usages and needs; (2) a behavioral assessment, aimed at understanding decision-making within the home and at the community level to encourage exclusive, sustained use of clean energy technologies; (3) an alternative energy assessment to develop a portfolio of clean cooking options,   fuels, stoves, and practices,  that when combined can replace traditional open fires and charcoal stoves  and enable exclusive, sustained use of clean alternatives; and (4) an air pollution assessment to monitor the community air pollution outcomes of the proposed interventions.

Key findings from Phase I of the project highlight some of the barriers to clean fuel adoption including: 

• Affordability: In rural areas, LPG demand is high when prices for LPG are very low but evaporates when pricing is anywhere close to market rates.  
• Liquidity: Charcoal users often purchase small quantities of charcoal every day or two, while LPG households report difficulty saving up to buy LPG cylinders.
• Access: Households within 1 km (about .62 miles) of a filling station are more than 3x more likely to use LPG compared to those 5+ km (about 3.11 miles) away, In addition, if retail kiosks are accessible, this may also boost demand.

To address some of these barriers, the project team partnered with a financial technology company, and Rancard, a software development firm, both based in Ghana, to develop ‘GasPay’. GasPay is a mobile platform that facilitates the purchase and inventory management of LPG under a new Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) that is in the process of being rolled out by the Government of Ghana. 

Phase II of the project (2024 - 2026) focused on testing and launching the GasPay system in a peri-urban environment with the goal of understanding if and how financial services, targeted subsidies, and CRM can help transition communities to cleaner cooking fuels. The project explored if savings incentives and credit-like features available to LPG users through GasPay and the distribution of no-cost LPG stoves could support community adoption of LPG under CRM. 

The project has completed its Phase III trial, which has offered reason for optimism. Every version of the intervention nudged households toward cleaner cooking. Compared with households that received no support, those that were offered a free LPG stove, access to GasPay, or both were approximately 11% more likely to be using LPG; over the course of the study, these households also spent more on gas and purchased LPG more frequently. Free stoves proved the clear preference: among households offered a stove, all but a single participant chose to keep it. Households that received both a stove and GasPay also purchased noticeably less firewood. GasPay itself was used more sparingly than anticipated. While most participants signed up for the service, fewer than expected went on to save or exchange cylinders through the GasPay app, suggesting that building the tool is the easier half of the challenge. Integrating a new payment method into daily household routines requires time, trust, and sustained support.

Taken together, these results demonstrate that reducing the upfront cost of a stove, combined with accessible digital financing, can meaningfully shift LPG adoption. They also point to where the tools still require refinement. 

Building on these findings, the project team is now working to transition GasPay to the Government of Ghana for integration into its LPG cylinder recirculation rollout.

Partners:

• Kintampo Health Research Centre
• University of California Santa Barbara
• University of California Berkeley
• Government of Ghana
• Clean Cooking Alliance