3. Results
FIRE
At baseline a total of 444 participants (204 in the comparison (C) group and 240 in the intervention (I) group) were included in the study. At follow-up, 105 comparison and 154 intervention participants were interviewed.The median age of participants was 43 years (range 19–60 years), with 65% of participants in the control group and 52% of those in the intervention group living in a rural area. Only about half of participants had completed primary school education (C =54%; I = 48%) and were in a traditional marriage (C = 47%; I = 48%). Fifty-five percent of participants in the control group and 46% in the intervention group were unemployed. Few participants were employed (C = 18.8%; I = 24.4%), self-employed (C = 11.6%; I = 12.6%), engaged in subsistence farming (C = 1.93%; I = 1.63%), or had a part-time/piece job (C = 6.8%; I = 3.7%). Although the majority of participants owned a house (C = 78.3%; I = 87.0), very few had a bathroom in the house (C =16%; I = 27%), and fewer still had access to their own water tap (C = 8%; I = 14%), with the predominant access to water being a communal tap (C = 62%; I = 57%). Few participants had access to electricity (C = 33%; I = 4I%) and many used a pit latrine system (C = 62%; I =56%). Most had a kitchen/place for cooking (C = 84%; I = 81%) where some used open fire (cow dung, maize sticks, wood) as fuel for cooking (C = 35%; I = 23%). In most households, only one member of the family was employed (C = 71%; I = 63%).