COVID-19 impacts on household energy & food security in a Kenyan informal settlement: The need for integrated approaches to the SDGs

Shupler, Matthew ORCID: 0000-0003-0259-9101, Mwitari, James, Gohole, Arthur, Anderson de Cuevas, Rachel ORCID: 0000-0001-7790-5332, Puzzolo, Elisa ORCID: 0000-0001-9177-5298, Čukić, Iva, Nix, Emily ORCID: 0000-0003-3331-2046 and Pope, Daniel ORCID: 0000-0003-2694-5478 (2021) COVID-19 impacts on household energy & food security in a Kenyan informal settlement: The need for integrated approaches to the SDGs. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 144. p. 111018.

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Abstract

This longitudinal study presents the joint effects of a COVID-19 community lockdown on household energy and food security in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Randomly administered surveys were completed from December 2019-March 2020 before community lockdown (n = 474) and repeated in April 2020 during lockdown (n = 194). Nearly universal (95%) income decline occurred during the lockdown and led to 88% of households reporting food insecurity. During lockdown, a quarter of households (n = 17) using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a cleaner cooking fuel typically available in pre-set quantities (e.g. 6 kg cylinders), switched to polluting cooking fuels (kerosene, wood), which could be purchased in smaller amounts or gathered for free. Household size increases during lockdown also led to participants' altering their cooking fuel, and changing their cooking behaviors and foods consumed. Further, households more likely to switch away from LPG had lower consumption prior to lockdown and had suffered greater income loss, compared with households that continued to use LPG. Thus, inequities in clean cooking fuel access may have been exacerbated by COVID-19 lockdown. These findings demonstrate the complex relationship between household demographics, financial strain, diet and cooking patterns, and present the opportunity for a food-energy nexus approach to address multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): achieving zero hunger (SDG 2) and universal affordable, modern and clean energy access (SDG 7) by 2030. Ensuring that LPG is affordable, accessible and meets the dietary and cooking needs of families should be a policy priority for helping improve food and energy security among the urban poor.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Clean cooking fuels, Liquefied petroleum gas, COVID-19, Food security, Energy security, Pay-as-you-go, Informal urban settlement
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	14 Apr 2021 08:05
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 22:53
DOI:	10.1016/j.rser.2021.111018
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3119210