Module 2: Assessing Indoor Air Pollution Levels through Questionnaires African Regional Training Workshop on Indoor Air Pollution and Household Energy Monitoring, Kampala, Uganda, 13-17 June 2005 Department for the Protection of the Human Environment World Health Organization Acknowledgement: This presentation was prepared by Eva Rehfuess, WHO in collaboration with David Pennise from the Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development.

Main Factors that Determine Indoor Air Pollution Levels • Fuel type • Stove type • Amount of fuel used/combusted • Kitchen type, housing type, ventilation characteristics

1. Basic questions on solid fuel use (household surveys) 2. Matrix-based assessment of solid fuel use (World Bank) 3. Tailor-made questionnaire

Basic Questions on Solid Fuel Use Currently used by: • World Health Survey (WHO) • Demographic and Health Survey (USAID) • Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (UNICEF) Addresses: • Use of solid fuels for cooking

Basic Questions on Solid Fuel Use: Questionnaire What type of fuel does your household mainly use for cooking?

Gas Electricity

Kerosene Coal Charcoal Wood

Agriculture/crop Animal dung Shrubs/grass Other

What type of cooking stove is used in your house? Open fire/stove without chimney/hood Open fire/stove with chimney/hood Closed stove with chimney Other Where is cooking usually done?

In a room used for living/sleeping In a separate room used as kitchen In a separate building used as kitchen Outdoors Other

Next question

Basic Questions on Solid Fuel Use: Advantages and Drawbacks Advantages: • Very simple, takes little time • Allows comparison with several large-scale surveys Drawbacks: • Very little information, limited to cooking practices • Very imprecise – e.g. "main cooking fuel"

• Very poor indicator for indoor air pollution levels based on cooking fuel, cooking stove and kitchen location

Matrix-Based Assessment of Solid Fuel Use

Currently used by: • Living Standards Measurement Survey (World Bank) Addresses: • Use of solid fuels for: – – – –

Cooking Heating Lighting Boiling water

Matrix-Based Assessment of Solid Fuel Use: Questionnaire (1) Fuel sources

During the last 30 days, has household used …?

What percentage of fuel was used for the following purposes? 25% (1) 75% (3) 50% (2) 100% (4) No use (999) Lighting

Cooking

Heating

Water boiling

Dung Wood Coal LP Gas Electricity etc. Source: Barnes, O'Sullivan, Whittington, World Bank 2004

Matrix-Based Assessment of Solid Fuel Use: Questionnaire (2) Fuel sources

Dung Wood Coal LP Gas Electricity etc.

What is the typical unit of measure?

How many units has household used in last 30 days?

How many of these units did household purchase in last 30 days?

What is the typical price household pays per unit?

What was the total cost of all the units household purchased in last 30 days?

How much time did members of household spend obtaining fuel in last 30 days? (round-trip)

What is the one-way distance members of household typically travel to collect or purchase fuel?

Matrix-Based Assessment of Solid Fuel Use: Advantages and Drawbacks Advantages: • Systematic information on fuel uses for different purposes • Information about fuel collection and purchase • Allows comparison with World Bank data Drawbacks: • More time-consuming • Lacks information on stove type (but can be added) • Does not address personal behaviour • May not address local needs sufficiently

Tailor-Made Questionnaire: Advantages and Drawbacks Advantages: • Can best address project needs • Can best capture local conditions and behaviours – – –

e.g. stove types and housing construction e.g. climate variability e.g. carrying child on back, temescal

• Can increase precision Drawbacks: • Requires time and money for development and pilot-testing • No advance "guarantee" that questions will work • Limited comparability with other projects

Examples Housing construction and ventilation: – Kitchen/cooking area dimensions (Winrock) – Number of windows/holes/vents and their dimensions (Winrock)

Meal preparation: – Number of meals prepared – Type of meal and cooking duration

Time activity patterns: – Location of mother and child during cooking and outside cooking times (ITDG) – Location where children do their homework (ITDG)

Specific practices: – Activities and location of mother during pregnancy and after child-birth (ARTI)

Recommendation – Monitor indoor air pollution levels. If this is not feasible: – Develop questionnaire that suits the needs and conditions of your project – Base your questionnaire on an existing questionnaire to ensure some comparability – Carefully pilot-test your questionnaire