Pre-Analysis Plan for evaluation of Gendered time-use benefits from improved cooking solutions

Three billion people around the world lack access to affordable and reliable clean cooking energy. The case for clean energy has been built around health and or environmental benefits, but has neglected potentially sizeable benefits: when women have clean energy, they can save time and reduce drudgery. There is thus an urgent need for better methods for quantifying and valuing the amount of time lost to drudgery related to household cooking energy use, and for translating findings from application of those methods into guidance that is actionable for funders and investors. This quasi-experimental impact evaluation research aims to identify the causal impacts of adoption of a fuel-efficient cooking solution in multiple Sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia) on: a) time spent on cooking-energy related activities, b) time re-allocation to other activities (especially domestic labor and income-earning activities), and c) women’s empowerment. Our study design uses an experimental design to assess the consistency of different methods of measuring time savings, and uses stated and revealed nonmarket valuation techniques to value time savings.