The Gender Perspective of Socioeconomic Determinants of Household Cooking Energy Consumption in Lesotho

Abstract

Unveiling gender dynamics in household energy consumption is a viable pathway to sustainable development in developing countries, as socially assigned cooking roles often place unequal burdens on women and reinforce inequality. Thus, this study examines the determinants of fuel consumption shares between female- and male-headed households in Lesotho during different seasons, utilising the 2017 Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS) data and the Tobit regression model. The findings reveal that although grid-connected households generally prefer modern fuels in summer, female-headed households revert to cheaper, polluting fuels in winter. Moreover, the use of dirty fuels increases with age, particularly in female-headed households. Additionally, families with labour for wood collection, especially children, exhibit a high reliance on polluting fuels and limited adoption of modern fuels. Conversely, improving the education level and other socioeconomic standards (geographic location, financial status or other wealth measures) fosters the reduction of polluting fuels in the household energy mix and promotes clean energy adoption. Therefore, targeted educational and economic empowerment programmes can enhance the use of clean energy and improve the well-being of Basotho, especially in female-headed households.