Change-over from Kerosene to LPG use – A Family Case Study, Nigeria

This case study examines the “Improving Access of Women to LPG as a Substitute for Fuelwood in Nigeria” project.  The project is designed to expand access to affordable LPG as a substitute for fuel wood.  Fuel wood currently is the main fuel for households, schools and small businesses in many parts of Nigeria. The overarching goal is to improve the socio-economic and environmental conditions of the poor and vulnerable, particularly women and children whose health is usually negatively affected by indoor air pollution arising from cooking with fuel wood.

In an attempt to expand clean energy services to poor households, while simultaneously and indirectly addressing the environmental effects of energy production and use. The focus on LPG is to explore its comparative advantages compared to traditional biomass fuels, as well as the abundance of gas and petroleum resources in the country. To this end, Friends of the Environment (FOTE) with funding from the Global Environment Facility- Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) in Nigeria, undertook a survey on LPG Perception and Sales in Lagos State in October 2010. The survey chose a sample frame of Lagos State and a sample size of 250 households from two communities, Badagry and Ojokoro (One Rural and One Urban) in administering the questionnaire in Lagos State.

The conclusions were that making LPG readily accessible to all socio-economic groups could be achieved by locating LPG depots strategically across the country to assure uninterrupted product availability and price stability. Affordability, however, would require the whole gamut of facilitating targeted measures such as lowering the costs for cylinders and equipment by tax and duty exemption, ready access to soft financing and other complementary measures without which the high front-end investments in becoming an LPG consumer will remain a barrier to access to many but especially for women and the poor. Low-cost consumer credit is not common in Nigeria and initiatives in this direction are recommended.

Seedfunding case study Penetrating LPG Use in Lagos State - Download