Does the choice of cooking fuel empower Ghanaian women? An empirical analysis

ABSTRACT Cooking, an important household activity is often done using heavy polluting fuels by a majority of households in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). In this study, we examine how the choice of cooking fuel affects women empowerment using nationwide household level data from Ghana. We examine whether fuel choices could lead to women's social and economic empowerment. By employing the Survey-based Women Empowerment Index (SWPER) and Principal Component Analysis to construct comprehensive indices of women empowerment, we find that using clean cooking fuel has significant positive associations with women empowerment across all domains and could consequently help reduce inequality to the advantage of women. Other socioeconomic factors such as household size and wealth were found to significantly determine women empowerment status. Both clean cooking fuel use and the reduction of social and economic inequalities are important targets to be met under the Sustainable Development Goals.