Increasing Access to Clean Cooking: The Practicality of Pay-Go in Promoting Adoption of Bottled Gas in Kinondoni, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

The majority of the population in developing countries have limited access to clean energy. To increase access to clean energy, the governments and other stakeholders have been working hard to create enabling environments for their adoption and utilization. For the household cooking sector, technological innovations such as improved biomass fuels, improved biomass cookstove, solar cooking, biogas and recently bottled gas service have been or are being deployed to scale up clean cooking. Nevertheless, a good number of the innovations intended for upscaling clean cooking in developing countries have failed to meet the desired goals due to limited support from the national governments or the international community. Pay-Go is among the recent innovations in the East African region intended for promoting the use of bottled gas (liquefied petroleum gas-LPG). This study evaluates the practicality of Pay-Go innovation on bottled gas, popularly known as Pay-as-you-Cook. Specifically, the article examines the evolution of Pay-as-you-Cook, its execution, usefulness and challenges; and its implications on household energy sector development. The study was conducted in Kinondoni Municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between 2018 and 2020. The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Purposive and non-random sampling techniques were used in selecting respondents. Purposive sampling was used to identify key informants while snowball sampling was used to find household respondents. Information was gathered from KopaGas (Pay-as-you-Cook innovator) headquarter-Kinondoni Morocco; and from Pay-as-you-Cook clients in Kinondoni Moscow, Mkwajuni and Hananasif. Methods of data collection involved semi-structured interviews and observation. Instruments of data collection included interview guides and observation checklists. Data analysis was accomplished with Nvivo 12. Findings show that Pay-as-you-Cook innovation was intended for promoting bottled gas adoption mainly to low-income households. The innovation was discovered to be convenient to many low- income households as it enabled them to use bottled gas for cooking without necessarily climbing the economic ladder. Yet, the innovation presents several challenges which are doubtful to its practicality.