Applied Implementation Research for Clean Cooking in Cambodia

Applied Implementation Research for Clean Cooking in Cambodia: Equity, Exposure, Costs, and Benefits of Induction Stove Interventions

The goal of this study is to learn how to help families in Cambodia switch to using electric induction stoves instead of traditional stoves that burn wood or charcoal. The study will also look at whether this switch is safe, affordable, and sustainable over time.

The main questions researchers want to answer are:

• What strategies work best to encourage families to use induction stoves regularly and stop using traditional cooking methods?
• Does switching to induction cooking reduce household air pollution for primary cooks?
• What are the costs and benefits of these strategies?

To answer these questions, researchers will compare different strategies across 65 peri-urban villages in Cambodia. They will use data loggers to track when families use induction stoves or traditional stoves, and measure air pollution levels in the home before and after families receive induction stoves.

Participants will:

• Receive an electric induction stove and support based on their group's strategy
• Have their stove use tracked through special devices
• Take part in air pollution measurements in their homes
• Share information about their cooking habits and experiences

Around 3 billion people worldwide cook using biomass fuels like wood, charcoal, and animal dung, which creates household air pollution responsible for about 2.3 million premature deaths each year from diseases such as heart disease, respiratory illnesses, diabetes, and cancer. Previous efforts to clean up biomass fuel burning have not sufficiently reduced air pollution or replaced traditional stoves, leading researchers to explore even cleaner alternatives like electric induction cooking.

This study evaluates whether electric induction stoves can effectively lower household air pollution in Cambodia. Using a rigorous, multi-year, cluster-randomized trial in 65 peri-urban villages, the study will:

• Develop and test different strategies (such as direct sales, subsidies, and community promotion) to encourage the purchase and regular use of induction stoves.
• Measure stove usage with cloud-connected data loggers that record cooking times and energy consumption.
• Collect household air pollution data and conduct surveys and interviews with approximately 3,100 households, with a focus on primary cooks.

The study also includes a comprehensive cost-effectiveness analysis to understand the benefits in terms of health, environmental impact, time savings, including impacts on individuals responsible for household cooking or fuel collection. By using established frameworks to plan, evaluate, and improve implementation (RE-AIM: Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance; CFIR: Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research), the research aims to build a strong evidence base to support the scale-up of clean cooking interventions in Cambodia and other low- and middle-income settings.

Inclusion Criteria:

- A household must:

• Provide consent to participate in our study, with at least one adult household member who identifies as the primary cook consenting to serve as the study participant
• Resides in village selected for implementation
• Household has electricity access
• Household does not already use electricity-based induction cooking technology

Exclusion Criteria:

-Plans to move permanently outside the study area in the next 12 months