How Women’s Labor and Voice Drive Ghana’s Transition to LPG Cooking

Pied Crow

12-10-2025

“Conservation without Dao is like a river without fish. The fish are not numbers. They are rhythms. I do not disturb the rhythm. I join it.”

In Kingfisherish Wandering [1]

© Saeid Tabarda

Cooking with firewood and charcoal remains a daily reality for billions of people worldwide, particularly in developing regions. According to the World Health Organization [2], nearly one-third of the global population lacks access to clean cooking technologies, resulting in household air pollution that contributes to millions of premature deaths annually.

In Ghana, where around 31% of households rely on wood and 23% on charcoal for cooking, the burden falls disproportionately on women and children, who are primarily responsible for fuel collection and cooking activities [3]. Exposure to smoke from these fuels leads to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, while deforestation from wood collection accelerates climate and ecological degradation [4,5]. Since the 1990s, Ghana’s government has launched various initiatives to promote the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a cleaner alternative, yet adoption remains uneven and limited by economic, cultural, and gender-based factors.

The study by Wilson, Owusu-Brown, and Iddrisu [6] investigates how women’s labour force participation and decision-making power influence the adoption of LPG for cooking in Ghana. Although LPG is a clean alternative to traditional fuels such as wood and charcoal, its adoption remains low—only about 37% of households use it as their primary fuel, while nearly 55% continue to rely on polluting biomass sources.

The study found that women in paid employment are 2.5 times more likely to adopt LPG compared to those not in the workforce. Employment enables women to afford modern fuels and value their time more, making convenience a key factor. However, the study also highlights that married women with limited decision-making power are less likely to use LPG, revealing how household power imbalances impede clean energy transitions. Education, income, and age also significantly affect LPG adoption—households led by younger, educated individuals with higher income levels are more inclined toward clean cooking fuels.

These findings underline that the shift to clean energy is not purely technological but deeply socio-cultural. Empowering women economically and within the household decision-making process can accelerate both gender equality (SDG 5) and clean energy access (SDG 7). The authors recommend vocational training, female-focused STEM education, and policies enhancing women’s autonomy to promote widespread LPG use and environmental sustainability.

Women’s empowerment can contribute to higher collective NQ. By reducing environmental degradation and improving health outcomes, female agency fosters individual and social peace through sustainable energy transitions [6,7]. When women gain voice and economic independence, society moves toward equilibrium—less environmental stress, healthier families, and more balanced community relations. In essence, the study bridges clean energy policy with social transformation: when women’s labor and voices are valued, homes become safer, forests recover, and the peace between humans and nature deepens.

References

[1] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/

[2] WHO.  (2023). Household air pollution: key facts. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health

[3] Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). (2021). Ghana population and housing census. General report volume 3A. https://www.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/fileUpload/pressrelease/Volume%203K_Housing%20Characteristics_240222.pdf

[4] Lim SS, et al. (2012). A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet, 380(9859), 2224-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61766-8.

[5] Jeuland MA, Pattanayak SK. (2012). Benefits and costs of improved cookstoves: assessing the implications of variability in health, forest and climate impacts. PLoS ONE, 7(2), e30338. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030338.

[6] Wilson J, Owusu-Brown B, Iddrisu S. (2025). Female labour force participation, power dynamics, and adoption of LPG for cooking in Ghana. Discover Sustainability, 6, 124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-00833-6

[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Nature Quotient. Pacific Conservation Biology, 31, PC25028. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25028

[8] Nguyen MH, Ho MT, La VP. (2025). On “An” (安): Inner peace through uncertainty, nature quotient, and harmony with Dao. http://books.google.com/books/about?id=NIKMEQAAQBAJ