Influencing Factors for Household Decisions on Adoption and Use of Biogas Technology: The Case of Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon

B.Sc. Gideon Gobti Ayeah

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Nowadays, research on renewable energy sources is increasingly gaining global attention because of the devastating consequences of non-renewable energy on the environment. Consequently, work on adopting biogas technology has been in the limelight. This is of special concern for developing countries due to the low level of adoption despite abundant resources. In Cameroon, the adoption rate of biogas technology is very low despite abundant resources and awareness available. Therefore, this study focuses on finding out the influencing factors for household decisions to adopt and use biogas technology in Bamenda, Northwest Cameroon. Self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured questionnaires, and interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative primary data from 129 respondents of which 112 were non-biogas users and 17 were biogas users. Descriptive statistics showed that females had a significant proportion of 51.2% and households averaging six members was 28.7%, with 58.1% of respondents having access to loans, while 62.8% owned land. Biogas technology in Bamenda, Cameroon, is in its early stages, with few farmers and non-farmers adopting small-scale household plants, mainly fueled by human or animal waste. These plants, constructed with local materials, primarily support cooking needs, while larger-scale installations serve institutions like hospitals and schools. With the multiple logit regression analysis, it was found that two variables: loan access (P = 0.05) and land ownership (P = 0.02) out of 14 variables had statistical significance with a negative impact on household decisions about use and adoption of biogas technology, while 12 had no significant effect (P > 0.05). These findings will serve as groundwork for further studies, and we recommend that more research be carried out in this area with a focus on biogas users and farmers emphasising the political, cultural, and technological factors and using other proper methodological approaches.

Keywords

Renewable energy, Biogas users, Farmers, Environment, Awareness

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 22. 5. 2024

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 6. 6. 2024
• Supervisor: doc. Ing. Hynek Roubík, Ph.D.
• Reader: Julius Tangka, externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme:
Tropical Farming Systems