The habit of fuel stacking in Nigerian homes

BY HOPE LEKWA 

In many Nigerian households, the use of multiple cooking fuels, known as fuel stacking, has become a common practice. Instead of relying on a single cooking method, families alternate between traditional fuels like charcoal and firewood and modern alternatives such as gas or electric stoves.

This habit reflects complex realities: economic constraints, fuel availability, cultural preferences, and concerns about convenience and reliability. Understanding why fuel stacking persists is key to designing effective solutions that can help Nigerian homes transition to cleaner, safer, and more sustainable cooking practices.

The Root of the Problem

The roots of fuel stacking in Nigeria are deeply embedded in economic, cultural, and logistical factors. Economically, many Nigerian households face fluctuating fuel prices and have limited, unstable incomes, which compel them to use multiple types of fuels like fuelwood, kerosene, and LPG in combination. Traditional biomass fuels such as fuelwood remain popular because they are affordable or even freely accessible, especially in rural regions. 

The high cost of cleaner fuel alternatives and recurrent expenses, such as maintenance and fuel refills, discourage exclusive use of modern cooking fuels. Additionally, supply chain challenges, including unreliable electricity and irregular access to clean fuels, further push households to retain traditional fuel sources to ensure consistent cooking energy availability. Thus, fuel stacking acts as an economic coping mechanism that buffers households against price volatility and supply interruptions.

Culturally, fuel stacking is also supported by long-standing cooking habits and preferences in Nigerian households. Many people believe that food cooked with traditional fuels like wood or charcoal tastes better, which reinforces their continued use even when modern fuels are available. 

There are also perceptions of risk associated with newer technologies like cooking gas and concerns about safety hazards, such as fire outbreaks. Cultural norms and educational levels influence awareness and acceptance of cleaner cooking methods, making it challenging to switch. 

The willingness and ability to trust in clean cooking technologies are often limited by a lack of knowledge and negative perceptions, resulting in cautious or partial adoption rather than a full transition. Hence, the deep-rooted social acceptance of biomass cooking alongside financial and logistical realities sustains the practice of fuel stacking across various Nigerian communities.

Barriers to Going Fully Clean

In Nigeria today, the continued reliance on traditional cooking fuels in households hides grave health and environmental costs that need to be emphasised more. Indoor air pollution from burning these traditional fuels, i.e, wood and charcoal, is a leading cause of respiratory illnesses, contributing to over 90,000 deaths annually, mainly among women and children who spend the most time near cooking fires.

This persistent smoke exposure damages the lungs and increases the risk of tuberculosis and lung cancer, further worsening living conditions for people.

Though several awareness interventions have been carried out in the past and continue to be implemented, they have had mixed success in overcoming the entrenched challenges of fuel choice in rural Nigerian homes, as translating awareness into exclusive adoption remains difficult. 

In Nigeria, approximately 50% of rural households and 40% of urban households use two or more fuels. This barrier to having this exclusive adoption is largely rooted in the earlier stated reasons of norms of the people, costs, reliability concerns, and limitations in compatibility. 

In practice, when a clean cookstove or fuel system can’t deliver those same performance characteristics, whether it lacks simmer-and-braise capability, requires special pots, or depends on unreliable or not easily accessible electricity or gas connections, households treat it as a “nice extra” rather than a full replacement. This mismatch between appliance design and local culinary routines limits the exclusive use of clean cooking technologies and perpetuates fuel stacking.

Breaking The Habit

To break the cycle of fuel stacking and speed up clean cooking adoption in Nigeria, we need bold, practical solutions that put communities at the centre. Instead of relying on foreign, one-size-fits-all technologies that don’t match our cooking habits or infrastructure, we should work with local residents to choose and adapt clean cooking options that truly fit their needs.

As actors in the space, you can support this shift through targeted education campaigns that go beyond just talking about health and environmental benefits. It’s important that we show people how these cleaner fuels like cooking gas actually work, offer safety training on usage, and clear up common myths. When we involve communities directly and back it up with smart policies and real behaviour nudges, then we can start planning on sustaining the impact.

Truly shifting away from fuel stacking requires actors to push further in understanding how people behave and what drives their choices. That means doing thorough research into the cooking habits and social norms of communities. 

Doing this will allow actors to have an intervention program that is built on trust and makes clean cooking feel familiar and culturally relevant, making adoption much easier. The evidence from African countries with similar contexts shows us that involving community leaders and local influencers can make a big difference. 

When respected voices in the communities speak up for clean cooking, others listen. So, simple nudges, like hosting live cooking demos, targeted peer influencing, etc., help people see the benefits for themselves. 

By making the transition feel personal and practical, not abstract or imposed, we help families see why they need to ditch firewood cooking and embrace cleaner fuels in a way that fits their lives. It’s not just about changing stoves, it’s about changing minds, together.

Being practical in your approach would also help, as it is frank to admit that change doesn’t happen overnight or even in weeks. So, instead of expecting families to switch completely to clean cooking right away, we should support gradual shifts. By encouraging people to reduce fuel stacking step by step, and backing that with targeted messages and great incentives. Actors in the clean cooking space should also employ much of social marketing too. 

When we share relatable stories and highlight real families who’ve made the switch, it helps others see themselves in that journey. Peer influence is an extremely powerful tool; when neighbours and friends embrace clean cooking, it is easier to influence more people, and gradually it becomes the norm. To sustain this momentum, ongoing support from community health workers or clean cooking ambassadors checking in, offering tips, and solving problems as they come up would prevent people from slipping back to old fuels.

In addition, combining behavioural strategies with creative delivery models amplifies impact. Pay-as-you-go and mobile money-enabled stove financing synchronised with real-time usage feedback empowers consumers to manage costs while adapting to clean fuel usage. 

Encouraging collective purchasing groups or cooperatives can foster social cohesion and reduce risks associated with new technologies. Behavioural insights also inform how supply chain agents interact with customers, emphasising trust and responsiveness that reduce barriers related to accessibility and reliability. 

Making Clean Cooking Stick Through Supportive Systems

While these behavioural strategies are powerful tools for promoting clean cooking, they cannot succeed in isolation. For these approaches to truly take root and deliver lasting impact, they must be backed by robust subsidies and infrastructural support. Subsidies help bridge the affordability gap for low-income households, making clean cookstoves and fuels financially accessible. 

Without them, even the most motivated families may revert to traditional fuels simply because cleaner options are out of reach. Likewise, infrastructure, such as reliable fuel supply chains, safe distribution networks, and good electricity, ensures that clean cooking is not just an idea, but a practical reality.

 Imagine a household inspired by a cooking demo or convinced by a local ambassador, only to find that gas refills are unavailable or are too expensive. Without the right systems in place, behavioural change stalls. 

That’s why government investment, private sector partnerships, and donor support are critical. They create the enabling environment where behavioural nudges can flourish and where clean cooking becomes not just desirable, but doable.

Hope Lekwa is a researcher specialising in sustainability and development.