Cooking with biomass is common in sub-Saharan Africa, despite associated air pollution and health concerns, and its usage is set to increase in coming decades. Education has been shown to be a useful tool for informing households about cleaner cookstove options using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), electric and solar power. However, much research in this area has focused on the impact of educating women and heads of households. Now, Samantha Lindgren from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign assesses whether rural Namibian households with children who attended a sustainable energy education programme hosted by the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET) were more likely to prefer cleaner cookstove options than others not exposed to the programme.

Segments of communities for the analysis were first identified using online census maps and aerial imagery, and households identified for interviews using systematic sampling. Interviews were co-designed with NaDEET staff and were conducted in March and April 2019 in the towns of Stampriet and Gibeon. Lindgren finds that despite continued satisfaction with open fire cooking, households with a family member who had participated in the NaDEET programme had more favourable attitudes around cleaner cooking fuels than those that did not. Further, those who owned electric cookstoves were more satisfied with their devices than those who do not have them. The findings provide insights into the contribution that child and youth energy education may have on household level clean cooking and energy behaviour.

尽管存在空气污染和健康问题，但在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，用生物质烹饪很常见，而且其使用量在未来几十年内将会增加。教育已被证明是一种有用的工具，可以让家庭了解使用 LPG（液化石油气）、电力和太阳能的清洁炉灶选择。然而，这一领域的许多研究都集中在教育妇女和户主的影响上。现在，来自伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的萨曼莎·林德格伦 (Samantha Lindgren) 评估了参加纳米布沙漠环境教育信托基金 (NaDEET) 主办的可持续能源教育项目的有孩子的纳米比亚农村家庭是否比其他未接触过能源的家庭更有可能选择更清洁的炉灶。程序。

首先使用在线人口普查地图和航空图像确定用于分析的社区部分，并使用系统抽样确定进行访谈的家庭。访谈是与 NaDEET 工作人员共同设计的，并于 2019 年 3 月和 4 月在 Stampriet 和 Gibeon 镇进行。 Lindgren 发现，尽管对明火烹饪持续感到满意，但有家庭成员参加过 NaDEET 计划的家庭比没有参加过的家庭对更清洁的烹饪燃料持更有利的态度。此外，拥有电炉的人比没有电炉的人对自己的设备更满意。研究结果深入了解儿童和青少年能源教育可能对家庭清洁烹饪和能源行为的贡献。