Economic Analysis and Willingness to Pay for Alternative Charcoal and Clean Cook Stoves in Haiti

• Main Author: Sagbo, Nicaise S
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2014
• Subjects: technology adoption; energy; willingness-to-pay; propensity score matching; Agricultural and Resource Economics
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/agecon_etds/28; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=agecon_etds

Conventional charcoal and firewood are the main source of energy in Haiti. They provide up to 90% of the country’s energy for domestic and industrial use, resulting in severe environmental and health issues. The present study is initiated to better understand the reasons why two promising alternative technologies (improved cookstoves and alternative charcoal briquettes) have experienced low adoption in Haiti. The research was carried out in two districts in southern Haiti where the improved stoves and briquettes production units exist and where households benefited from a program distributing the improved stoves. This project contributes to the literature by gauging interest in the improved stove and briquettes, as well as their specific characteristics. It helps understand factors that affect the adoption and dis-adoption of the technologies. Additionally, the research measures tangible benefits for households that adopted the improved stoves. The study reveals that the use of the improved stoves lowers fuel expenditures by 14.6 cents/day to 23.6 cents/day. Haitian consumers are interested in both the stove and briquettes, but their willingness-to-pay depends on their personal characteristics such as location and income. The study has revealed two surprising results as well: Unnecessary dis-adoption of the stoves occurs because the two technologies were needlessly marketed together. Despite the target audience, which is poor and rural consumers, the improved stove is perceived as a rich, urban user’s technology.