Influence of the Socio-Economic Profile of the Head of Household on Domestic Energy Use for Cooking in the City of Uíge, Angola

The city of Uíge, capital of the province of Uíge in northern Angola, presents a diversity of lifestyles, socio-economic levels and domestic energy sources for cooking. The present study aimed to identify the different domestic energy sources used in cooking operations in households in the city of Uíge, both in urban and peri-urban areas, as well as the reasons for their choice. By means of a semi-structured survey, 384 heads of households residing in three neighborhoods of the city of Uíge were interviewed, 96 (Kituma), 192 (Papelão) and 96 (Popular No. 1). The majority of households in the city of Uíge are headed by men (75%), 77% in Papelão; 78% in Popular No. 1; 69% in Kituma. 98% of the men are literate, the majority having attended junior or senior-high school (50%) and higher education (34%). Only 84% of female heads of household are literate, 30% have attended junior-high school and 22% adult education. In addition, the majority (55%) of households in the city of Uíge use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking. LPG is the main source of domestic energy for public servants (79%) and traders (66%) in the city of Uíge. Firewood is the main (54%) source of domestic energy used by small farmer households. But, 79% of households headed by university students cook mainly with LPG. In addition, 67% of heads of households with senior-high school and 41% with junior-high school use LPG as their main source of household energy. On the other hand, about 60% of illiterate people use wood as their main source of energy. In contrast, none of the head of households with higher education level use firewood to prepare food. Moreover 68% of the respondents’ grill or roast with charcoal because it gives a better taste to the food and 25% of the respondents do so because of culinary or cultural habits. Charcoal is the main energy source (89%) for grilling and roasting. Households that cook with charcoal and firewood spend US$ 59.63 per month compared to US$ 13.24 for those who use LPG. Making modern commercial energy equipment available to all Angolan households would help low-income and poorly educated households to use the clean, modern energy they crave for cooking. Econometric studies should be conducted to estimate the correlation between household energy consumption and the number of inhabitants per household, for example.