<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Various health challenges and fatalities in rural communities of most developing countries of the world have been traceable to the unabated use of biomass energy sources. We therefore assessed the awareness of the health implications of the use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State. Multistage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 120 respondents using structured questionnaires. Data were collected on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, types of biomass used, information sources on the health implications from use of biomass energy sources, awareness of the health implications and constraints to the use of alternatives to biomass. Data were summarised using frequencies, percentages, means, Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Majority of the respondents (78.3 %) were below 40 years of age with a mean age of 30 ± 2.02 years. Majority were married (90.8 %), Muslims (100 %), involved in agro-processing (65.8 %), had no formal education (73.3 %), and earned not more than ₦10, 000 (90.8 %) with mean household size of 9 members. Wood (100 %) and charcoal (100 %) were the dominant biomass energy sources used. Respondents’ main source of information on the health implications of the use of biomass were radio (64.2 %) and extension agents (54.2 %). Awareness level of the health implications from the use of biomass energy sources was fairly high (51.7 %). High cost of the alternatives, scarcity of refilling points and alternatives and lack of capital were the main hindrances to the use of the alternatives to biomass energy sources. The result on the inferential statistics revealed that a significant association existed between education (χ2 = 6.08; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) and awareness of health implications from the use of biomass. Efforts should be made to sensitize women on the health implications resulting from the use of biomass. Alternatives should be made available and affordable to encourage a switch from biomass energy sources thereby reducing the fatalities that may result from its continual use.</p></abstract>

Various health challenges and fatalities in rural communities of most developing countries of the world have been traceable to the unabated use of biomass energy sources. We therefore assessed the awareness of the health implications of the use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State. Multistage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 120 respondents using structured questionnaires. Data were collected on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, types of biomass used, information sources on the health implications from use of biomass energy sources, awareness of the health implications and constraints to the use of alternatives to biomass. Data were summarised using frequencies, percentages, means, Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Majority of the respondents (78.3 %) were below 40 years of age with a mean age of 30 ± 2.02 years. Majority were married (90.8 %), Muslims (100 %), involved in agro-processing (65.8 %), had no formal education (73.3 %), and earned not more than ₦10, 000 (90.8 %) with mean household size of 9 members. Wood (100 %) and charcoal (100 %) were the dominant biomass energy sources used. Respondents’ main source of information on the health implications of the use of biomass were radio (64.2 %) and extension agents (54.2 %). Awareness level of the health implications from the use of biomass energy sources was fairly high (51.7 %). High cost of the alternatives, scarcity of refilling points and alternatives and lack of capital were the main hindrances to the use of the alternatives to biomass energy sources. The result on the inferential statistics revealed that a significant association existed between education (χ2 = 6.08; P < 0.05) and awareness of health implications from the use of biomass. Efforts should be made to sensitize women on the health implications resulting from the use of biomass. Alternatives should be made available and affordable to encourage a switch from biomass energy sources thereby reducing the fatalities that may result from its continual use.

Awareness of the health implications of use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State, Nigeria

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture

Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture

Agricultura Tropica et Subtropica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Various health challenges and fatalities in rural communities of most developing countries of the world have been traceable to the unabated use of biomass...

Awareness of the health implications of use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State, Nigeria

Publicado en línea: 09 ago 2018

Páginas: 93 - 101

Recibido: 05 ene 2018

Aceptado: 26 jul 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ats-2018-0010

Palabras clave
Biomass energy sources, indoor air pollution, health implications, non-solid fuel

© 2018 Orifah Olusegun Martins et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Awareness of the health implications of use of biomass energy sources among women in rural households of Jigawa State, Nigeria

Publicado en línea: 09 ago 2018

Páginas: 93 - 101

Recibido: 05 ene 2018

Aceptado: 26 jul 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ats-2018-0010

Palabras claveBiomass energy sources, indoor air pollution, health implications, non-solid fuel

© 2018 Orifah Olusegun Martins et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Palabras clave
Biomass energy sources, indoor air pollution, health implications, non-solid fuel