Fuelwood collection and technical efficiency among rural households in Uganda: An instrumental variable-stochastic frontier analysis approach

This study investigates the determinants of technical (in)efficiency among fuelwood-dependent rural households in Uganda, employing an instrumental variable approach within the output-oriented stochastic production frontier model. Rural households, on average, spend 71 minutes per day gathering fuel, limiting their participation in productive economic activities. Findings indicate that an additional minute spent collecting fuelwood increases technical inefficiency by 9.5 %. In addition, each additional year of schooling of the household head reduces inefficiency by 1.2 %. The study also highlights the impact of cooking technology, with modern alternatives such as improved cookstoves, kerosene stoves, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) significantly reducing technical inefficiency compared to traditional three-stone fires. Gender differences are also observed, with female-headed households exhibiting greater technical efficiency than male-headed households. Regional disparities in technical efficiency reveal that households in the Central region perform better than those in Eastern, Northern, and Western Uganda. The study underscores the need for policies promoting improved access to modern cooking technologies. It also calls for increased educational opportunities and sustainable forestry programs to sustain rural livelihoods. We recommend a future study that spatially disaggregates the relationships between infrastructure, market access, energy transitions, and rural household technical efficiency.