Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey ... - Measure DHS

2.5.1 Energy SourcesTable 2.5 presents information on the energy sources used by Tanzanian households. Use ofelectricity usually goes hand in hand with improved housing structures and a better standard of living.In Tanzania, about 12 percent ofhouseholds have electricity. There is a largedifference in access to electricity betweenurban and rural households (40 percent inurban areas compared with 2 percent in ruralareas). The same results were obtained in the2003-04 THIS (TACAIDS, NBS, and ORCMacro, 2005).The type of fuel used for cookingcan have a direct effect on people’s healthstatus; it also serves as an indicator of thesocio-economic status of the household.Charcoal is the most common fuel used forcooking in urban areas (60 percent), whereasfirewood is the predominant fuel for cookingin rural areas (94 percent). Both fuels have anegative impact on the environment becausethey involve cutting down trees.About 85 percent of households useparaffin as their major source of energy forlighting (25 percent hurricane lamp, 2 percentpressure lamp, and 58 percent wicklamp). Forty percent of households in urbanareas use electricity as their major source ofenergy for lighting, and 32 percent use aparaffin hurricane lamp. Use of electricity asthe main source of energy for lighting inrural areas is very limited (2 percent).2.5.2 Housing CharacteristicsTable 2.5 Household energy sourcesPercent distribution of households by energy sources, according toresidence, Tanzania HMIS 2007-08HouseholdsHousing characteristic Urban Rural TotalElectricityYes 40.1 2.1 11.5No 59.9 97.8 88.4Missing 0.0 0.1 0.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Cooking fuelElectricity 0.9 0.1 0.3LPG/natural gas/biogas 0.8 0.0 0.2Kerosene 8.5 0.3 2.3Charcoal 59.6 5.7 19.0Wood 29.0 93.5 77.5Straw/shrubs/grass 0.2 0.1 0.1No food cooked in household 1.1 0.3 0.5Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Lighting energyElectricity 39.6 1.9 11.3Solar 0.1 0.1 0.1Gas 0.0 0.1 0.1Paraffin hurricane lamp 32.2 22.6 24.9Paraffin pressure lamp 1.0 2.1 1.8Paraffin wick lamp 25.1 68.7 57.9Firewood 0.1 3.7 2.8Candles 1.9 0.2 0.6Other 0.1 0.7 0.5Missing 0.0 0.1 0.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Number of households 2,106 6,391 8,497Note: Percentages for electricity and cooking fuel may not add to100 because of missing cases (no more that 0.2 percent of cases inany category).LPG = Liquid petroleum gasThe type of material used forflooring is also an indicator of socio-economic status, and to some extent determines the household’svulnerability to exposure to disease-causing agents. Table 2.6 shows that 71 percent of householdshave earthen floors (made of earth, sand, or dung). Large differences exist between rural and urbanhouses; earth flooring is most common in rural areas (85 percent) while cement is most common inurban areas (67 percent).Quality wall materials ensure that household members are protected from hazardousconditions. Sun-dried bricks are the most common type of wall material in Tanzania (32 percent)followed by poles and mud (29 percent). Half of urban households live in cement block structures,while 34 percent of households in rural areas have structures made of poles and mud walls, and 37percent have houses with sun-dried brick walls.The most common form of roofing in Tanzania is iron sheets (53 percent). In rural areas,grass, thatch, and mud are the most common materials used for roofing (58 percent), while in urbanareas iron sheets are the most common roofing material (88 percent).16 | Introduction