The Impact of Energy Use on Poor Urban Livelihoods in ... - DfID

A Study <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Impact</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Energy</strong> on Poor Urban Livelihoods in Arusha, Tanzania
firewood which together account for 80% <strong>of</strong> cooking usage. 69.6% <strong>of</strong> households
use kerosene for lighting and a further 30% use electricity.
Many urban households are not connected to electricity.
Hosier and Kipondya'a study provided two interesting observations, specifically that:
• energy transition in urban Tanzania appeared to be proceeding slowly with
positive shifts towards modern fuels away from traditional fuels dominating 59 ; and
that
• urban energy use is neither uniform nor monolithic within a country: a range <strong>of</strong>
energy-use patterns may exist depending on the population <strong>of</strong> a city and its
position in the urban hierarchy. This means policies that are beneficial in one
urban area may be inappropriate in another.
C.6.4 Supply and use <strong>of</strong> energy in Arusha
• <strong>Energy</strong> supply
Biomass
<strong>The</strong>re is a huge deficit between the supply and demand for wood and charcoal in
Arusha District. 60
Charcoal is obtained from Tanga, Manyara and Dodoma. Suppliers <strong>of</strong> charcoal to
Arusha are required to have a trade licence (TSh80,000 per year) and also to pay
income tax in Arusha. <strong>The</strong> bulk <strong>of</strong> the wood (approximately 90%) comes from the
government owned Mount Meru Forest Plantation and the remainder from farms.
Wood is stockpiled in the dry season 61 .
Electricity
<strong>The</strong> Arusha network is substandard and poorly maintained because <strong>of</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> funds
resulting from failure by customers to pay. Currently there is an annual shortfall in
income to TANESCO <strong>of</strong> nearly a half a billion Tanzanian shillings.
Tanesco is adopting a number <strong>of</strong> strategies to improve payment <strong>of</strong> charges and
repayment <strong>of</strong> debt. (Box H)
Box H: TANESCO strategies for improving bill payment
Considering :
• lowering tariffs
• pre-payment system (this is only operative in Dar-es-
Salaam)
• load limiting for low-income people
• improved debt collection
• improved connection time to not more than a month
Source: Regional Manager, TANESCO
• <strong>Energy</strong> use
59
However, it must be remembered that urban households in Tanzania have to be flexible in their use <strong>of</strong>
energy. This is because there is no one-to-one interchangeability between fuels (e.g. kerosene can not
be used for ironing) and the supply <strong>of</strong> modern energy is unreliable
60
Currently there is a regional demand <strong>of</strong> 3.2 billion cubic meters. <strong>The</strong> current regional supply
is 2 million cubic meters(if all the wood supply was depleted). <strong>The</strong> sustainable capacity
(without degradation) is 100,000 cubic meters.
61
Key Informant Interview, Regional Forestry Officer
Development Planning Unit, UCL London
Dr. Sheilah Meikle and Patrice North