Analysis of energy consumption among rural households in Ibarapa Area Of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Factors that influenced households ‘choices of energy use in Ibarapa region of Oyo State were examined in this study. Data were collected through primary sources with the use of structured questionnaire.One hundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were administered on respondents who were randomly selected from six randomly selected communities of two of the three Local Government Areas of the study area. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in the study. The multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the factors that influenced households’ choices of energy type. From the results, it was discovered that 38% of the respondents were male while female accounted 62%. From the result obtained for the multinomial logistic regression, it was discovered that household size, monthly income, age, educational status, marital status, as well as frequency of cooking per day, all significantly influenced respondents choice of energy at 5% level of significance. In addition, the respondents asserted that inadequate energy supply, high cost of energy, low quality of energy and inadequate access to energy source were constraints limiting their choices of energy for use. In view of this, it was suggested that governments at all levels should make efforts to ensure that energy sources like kerosene gas and electricity are readily made available to households at reduced and affordable prices. This will  therefore reduce the use of fuel wood and charcoal as sources of energy and by extension, reduce the pressure on our forests by people who are collecting fuelwood or using forest woods to make charcoal as source of energy.