Considerations in Intervention Design to Reduce Indoor Air Pollution from Cooking with Biomass

Abstract

The compilation of the two chapters of this report ultimately conveys an optimistic message, albeit one threaded with caution. Chapter 1 expounds the impact of those more common interventions on particulate emissions and concentrations and displays their potential to substantially reduce human exposure to pollutants. Chapter 2 then examines the literature available on experiences to date with these various interventions and outlines the predominant issues encountered that hindered their overall success. It herein reveals the deeply intertwined nature of the technological and socio-economic facets of indoor air pollution from cooking and affirms the importance of embracing a holistic approach to addressing the problem by considering not only each issue individually, but also how each affects the others. The local specificity of programme requirements is made evident, as is in turn the need for initiatives to be “robust to existing limits” encountered upon implementation in varying locations and conditions (Jin et al., 2006). Moreover, the highlighted importance of participatory programmes echos the WHO’s (2002) call for interventions that strive to “broaden the range of secure and sustainable choices available” which will then “enable people to devise their own solutions”. As greater numbers of longitudinal studies are carried out that monitor the technical performance of interventions, as well as the socioeconomic and behavioural determinants of their adoption and continued use (Ezzati et al., 2004), more information will be amassed to inform and tailor future programmes as needed. In the meantime, this report provides a starting point for evaluating intervention appropriateness and demonstrates the significance of this assessment to intervention sustainability.