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    Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Cooking Fuel Use Patterns, Income and Food Security in an Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

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    Publication Date
    2020-10-26
    Authors
    Shupler, Matthew
    Mwitari, James
    Gohole, Arthur
    de Cuevas, Rachel Anderson
    Puzzolo, Elisa
    Cucik, Iva
    Nix, Elisa
    Pope, Daniel
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    (8 total)
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    Other
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    Citation

    Shupler, M., Mwitari, J., Gohole, A., Anderson de Cuevas, R., Puzzolo, E., Cukic, I., ... & Pope, D. (2020, October). Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Cooking Fuel Use Patterns, Income and Food Security in an Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. In ISEE Conference Abstracts (Vol. 2020, No. 1).

    Abstract/Overview

    Approximately 2.5 billion individuals use solid fuels (e.g. wood, coal) for cooking, exposing them to health-damaging household air pollution (HAP). A COVID-19 lockdown may impact the cooking habits, earning power, food security and health of millions of the urban poor living in informal settlements in low-income countries,Methods: Nairobi went into COVID-19-related lockdown on April 7, 2020. A telephone-based survey was conducted from April 20-30 to document socioeconomic impacts and fuel use among consenting participants (N=196) in the informal settlement of Mukuru kwa Reuben in Nairobi, Kenya. Change in cooking habits was assessed through comparison with baseline survey data collected from a random sample of primary cooks (N=285) in Mukuru kwa Reuben from December 2019-March 2020.Results: Nearly all participants (>90%; 178) reported reduced (60%) or cessation (31%) of income and insufficient food (88%) as a result of the lockdown. A majority (52%) of participants reported cooking less frequently in response to the lockdown; most commonly (52%) in order to reduce household expenses and half (51%) had changed their diet (20% stopped consuming meat/fish). Half (n=38) of respondents using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking had reduced (n=17; 23%) or stopped using LPG (n=21; 28%) as a clean primary fuel. Households switching primary fuels (n=29) commonly substituted LPG for wood (n=8; 28%) or kerosene (n=7; 24%); or kerosene for wood (n=9; 31%). Three-quarters of residents continuing to use LPG were paying a higher price since the lockdown; unavailability of LPG was not indicated as a major barrier. The COVID-19 lockdown has had a substantial impact on the livelihoods, fuel use and diets of families in peri-urban Kenya, including a likely increase in HAP exposures among families that stopped/reduced LPG fuel use for cooking. Increased exposure to HAP may have been compounded by being quarantined inside the home.

    Subject/Keywords
    Air pollution; Solid fuels; COVID-19 lockdown; Informal settlements; Low-income countries; Nairobi; Kenya; Household air pollution; LPG
    Further Details

    Environmental Health Perspectives is pleased to present this abstract on behalf of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). This abstract was presented at a past ISEE annual meeting and has not been peer reviewed.

    Publisher
    Environmental Health Perspectives
    Permalink
    https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/abs/10.1289/isee.2020.virtual.O-OS-634
    http://dspace.amref.org/handle/123456789/51
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