Determinants of household energy use in Uganda : A case study of Entebbe Municipality

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze the determinants of household energy use in Uganda using a case study of Entebbe Municipality. The necessary data for this study were obtained from selected 95 sampling households from Kigungu and Kiwafu wards. Using proportion to sample size allocation, the sample size was distributed among strata. Data was collected using Questionnaires where the researcher distributed them to the selected households and went back after two weeks to collect them. The study applied chi-square techniques to analyze the data. Multiple types of energy are commonly used by individual sample households for day to day household energy requirement and the majority of the people depend on traditional energy sources. There is a relationship between education level of the household head and the use of firewood by the household since p=0.006 which is less than 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis of no relationship. There is no relationship between monthly income of the household and the use of firewood by the household since the calculated p=0.195>0.05, we accept the null hypothesis and conclude that monthly income of the household does not significantly determine the use of firewood for household purposes. Since the calculated p=0.01 which is less than the critical p-value 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the type of the dwelling unit significantly determine the use of firewood for household purposes. There is a relationship between gender of the household head and firewood used by the household since the calculated p-value is p=0.01 which is less than 0.05 we reject the null hypotheses of no relationship and we conclude that gender of the household head determines the use of firewood by the household. The study recommends that due to the fact that some households still use firewood as their main choice of energy, it would be advisable to encourage use of more efficient wood stoves. Effective use will result in a decreased demand for firewood.