Using an electric cooking appliance to combat domestic air pollution in Côte d’Ivoire

In 2023, more than 40% of the world's population relies on solid fuel, such as wood and charcoal which pollutes, to provide energy for their most basic needs like cooking food and boiling water (Energy Sector Management Assistance Program 2020). This has heavy impacts on health and the environment. After malnutrition, air pollution is the second risk factor for mortality and disability, (Ferrari et al., 2024). In 2023, 3.2 million premature deaths in the world were linked to indoor air pollution from these cooking methods (WHO, 2023). In addition, the use of fuel from wood contributes to climate change and deforestation, with about 1 gigatonne of carbon dioxyde equivalent emitted each year – a carbon footprint that's comparable to the emissions of a country like the United Kingdom in 2010 (Bailis et al. 2015).

In Abidjan, 89.5% of the population had access to electricity en 2023, according to the National Institute of Statistics and ICF, yet less than 1% of households use mainly electricity for cooking. Several barriers explain this very low proportion: how much the investment costs, the barrier to information and habit change, as well as false beliefs. However Abidjan has a good quality electricity supply, the average outage in 2022 was 2.4 hours/month (Directorate General of Energy Activity Report). Air pollution was the 2nd risk factor for mortality and disability after malnutrition in 2021 (Ferrari et al., 2024).

Energy efficient Electric Pressure Cookers – EPC which suit the way people cook in Côte d'Ivoire may be an efficient solution that few people are aware of, in particular to their initial high cost and lack of knowledge about their benefits. These pressure cookers have been tested in a laboratory on a small scale.

The long-term aim of the PAC-CI team is to combat air pollution by promoting the use of electric cooking in Abidjan. To this end, a gradual research approach will be implemented, aiming to identify the existing barriers to using them and test incentives for removing them. This Preparation grant now aims to provide a prototype for the format and activities with a sample of 60 women living in the Abidjan Autonomous District.

FID funding will be used for:

• Subsidising purchasing electric pressure cookers thanks to a bidding system (Becker Degroot Marschak – each participant gives the price they would be willing to pay, and it this bid is equal to ore more than the secret, predetermined "strike price", that person may buy the pressure cooker) to test the provision for paying and efficiency of the grants.
• Training people how to use this equipment, with home demonstrations and advice for adapting Ivorian recipes.
• Creating awareness in households about indoor air pollution via loaning air quality sensors installed for a month in residences.

The project is supported by the PAC-CI team. It is part of a gradual strategy with a long term aim of designing a program on a wider scale.

This project aims to promote a new more sustainable cooking technique that produces less pollution, a new practice with beneficial effects for the environment but also on people's health. The financial support of FID provides will contribute to reaching these objectives:

1. Approving an initiative format that combines grants, training and raising awareness
2. Assessing obstacles to the electric pressure cookers being adopted (cost, habits, perceptions)
3. Reparing a wider-scale experimentation protocol in the Abidjan conurbation