Investigation of drivers and barriers to LPG uptake after re-introduction of 16 % VAT on LPG among low-middle income households in Nairobi County
Date
2022
Authors
Thumbi, Margaret Muthoni
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
Promoting access to clean household cooking energy is a crucial issue that has policy implications for the urgent need and global efforts to achieve universal energy access by 2030, as set out in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7). This qualitative study explored the Theory of Change on interventions that are capable of bringing change. In addition, the Lay Logic model on barriers and facilitators on scale-up on clean cooking fuel was utilized. The model has five domains of concern consumer perspective in low- and middle-income households in an urban setting. More than 3 billion people globally still rely on traditional fuel as a source of cooking fuel. This has resulted in an enormous health burden due to household Air Pollution (HAP) with approximately 4.3 million premature deaths arising from the use of solid fuel (charcoal, wood) and kerosene. A growing body of evidence and global consensus indicates that scaling up the use of clean cooking fuels will contribute to the achievement of all 17 SDGs set by the United Nations in 2015. Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) is a clean-cooking fuel that is rapidly scalable; it is thus seen as a key component in achieving Kenya’s ambitious target of attaining 100% clean household energy access by 2028. The Kenyan government zero-rated Value Added Tax (VAT) on LPG in 2016, this recorded a progressive increase in uptake from 13% in 2016 to 24% in 2020. Although in July 2021 16% standard Value Added Tax (VAT) on LPG was re-introduced. Consequently, the re-introduction of the 16% VAT negatively impacted the resource-poor low and middle income households, this led to an increase in the LPG cost thus causing LMI Households to revert to alternative traditional fuels either exclusively or through supplementing LPG. Traditional fuels are polluting and have adverse effects on health, livelihoods, the environment, and climate, this study sought to explore the effect of the re-introduction of 16% VAT on LPG uptake. The objectives of this research were, to i) establish the outcome of the re-introduction of 16% VAT in LMI households, ii) determine other fuel options that households switched to after the VAT re-introduction, and iii) the drivers that determine the type of fuels used by households and trends observed.
Description
A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Policy and Management at Strathmore University