“Using data from the household budget survey 2007, this study examines two main issues i)the affordability of kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity to poor urban households, i.e. households below the basic needs poverty line ; and ii) energy expenditure patterns in poor and non-poor urban households in Tanzania. Results indicate that kerosene is affordable to poor urban households while electricity is not. The cost of kerosene is only 13 percent that of the cheapest cost estimate for electricity. This finding is consistent with observations in the HBS 2007 that kerosene is the second major source of energy for cooking after charcoal and the prime source of energy for lighting in Tanzania.”
