IJREH | Innovation diffusion: Dissemination circuits of improved cookstoves in Maroua, Far North Region of Cameroon

Indexing and Abstracting

Innovation diffusion: Dissemination circuits of improved cookstoves in Maroua, Far North Region of Cameroon

Clarkson Mvo Wanie , Viyoi Catherine Tidze

International Journal of Rural Development, Environment and Health Research(IJREH), Vol-2,Issue-3, May - June 2018, Pages 10-19, 10.22161/ijreh.2.3.2

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Abstract:

Household cooking with solid fuels in traditional cookstoves is detrimental to health, the environment and socio-economic development. Hence, a range of Improved Cookstoves (ICSs) technological innovation is available. Current diligence to ICS focuses on the ‘‘triple benefits’’ they provide-improved health and time savings for households, preservation of forests and associated ecosystem services, and reducing emissions that contribute to global climate change. In spite of the purported advantages of such technologies, little is known about successful approaches to their dissemination in Maroua. More so, scientific publications on the ICS dissemination circuits are scant. This study grants in-depth analyses of dissemination circuits of ICS technology in Maroua. The study employed a qualitative case study research design. Qualitative data was collected for a period of nine months through reconnaissance surveys, field visits/observation, photographs taking and in-depth interviews. Collected data was presented and analysed using qualitative statistical techniques including figure, percentage, graph and a plate. It was found that ICSs was first introduced in the town by some French organisations in a bid to reduce the consumption of fuelwood and the pressure it exerts on the already degraded forest, and the actors involved in the dissemination of the ICSs include the government, NGOs and CIGs, and private individuals (friends and relatives). The dissemination circuits employed by these actors include sensitization and free donations, the mass media, and interpersonal and interactive channels. Of these, the latter is the most popular and practicable (36%). This study champions that the dissemination circuits currently employed are deficient for the area (the mass media for instance records only a trivial 4% of circuits used), and so the use of traditional three stone fire place is still topping the list of different types of cookstoves commonly used. It provides suggestions which if implemented, will promote successful large scale dissemination and adoption of ICSs technology, intensify dissemination circuits and stimulate ICS market transformation in the area.

Keywords:

Improved cookstoves, dissemination, technological innovation, Maroua, Cameroon

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