Demographic and Socio-economic Determinants of Household Energy Use in Dilla Town
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Since the household is the major consumption unit of energy sources, it is important
to assess the use of energy at the household level. The purpose of this research is to
assess the demographic and socio-economic factors that determine household
energy use in Dilla Town. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted to
obtain both quantitative and qualitative data on the demographic and socioeconomic
characteristics and energy use of households. A sample size of 422 households was
selected from the three kebeles by probability proportional to size and two data
collection tools i.e. questionnaire and in-depth interview were used. The
quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive, multiple regressions with dummy
variables and multinomial logistic regression. The regression model was employed
to identify the factors that determine household energy use in terms of both amount
and type. Thus, the dependent variables considered are the per capita energy use
and type of energy. The predictor variables that were considered include household
size, age and sex of household head, housing conditions, income, education and
marital status. This study has found out that per capita energy use decreases as
household size increases due to the sharing of energy. Households that are headed
by females use the traditional fuels as the major cooking fue ls mainly due their
livelihood strategy that may depend on trading of processed food. The economic
factor also determines energy use. As the household income increases households
began to use multiple fuels instead of using only modern fuels. The study
recommends that attaining small household size, subsidizing modern fuels,
educating women and promoting economic development are necessary to use
adequate and clean energy sources in the household. This study can help further
studies on the issue of energy use and its demographic and socioeconomic
determinants at the household level. It can also help energy planning and decision
making through understanding the factors that determine household energy use in
the study area.
Keywords: Female headed household, Fuel choice, Household income, Household
size, Per capita energy
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Keywords
Female headed household, Fuel choice, Household income, Household size, Per capita energy