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

<strong>The</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> energy use on poor urban livelihoods in Arusha, Tanzania,
development.(Clancy et al: undated; Barnett: 00; Clancy: 02) As Barnett states, two
billion people are without access to modern forms <strong>of</strong> energy such as electricity and
oil.
Over time, countries and, within them, individuals, as they acquire more wealth,
replace 'traditional sources' <strong>of</strong> energy with 'commercialised ' or modern fuels and
thus move up the energy ladder, figure 2.1. However despite accessing more modern
sources <strong>of</strong> energy they may, as is shown in this study, for cultural and practical
reasons, choose to use more than one fuel. Frequently energy poverty has less to
do with lack <strong>of</strong> fuel but more to do with a lack <strong>of</strong> capital and other resources to put
energy to efficient use. (Barnett: 00)
Men and women have different levels <strong>of</strong> access to different types <strong>of</strong> energy and
different roles in relation to energy. Shortages in a particular fuel may therefore affect
men and women differently.(Rukato:undated) <strong>The</strong> role <strong>of</strong> women as major users and
suppliers <strong>of</strong> fuel, and the fact that they use energy in circumstances that result in
negative impacts for themselves and their children has been recognised for many
years. (Cecelski: 84, 2000; Clancy, Skutsch and Batchelor: undated)
Figure 2.1: <strong>The</strong> energy ladder a
a. Based loosely on economic theory <strong>of</strong> household behaviour and the assumption that
modern fuels are normal economic goods and traditional fuels are inferior goods (Hosier
and Kipanya: 93)
Source: Report on ‘Public Health and Household <strong>Energy</strong>’ downloaded from
http://www.sparknet.info/goto.php/qv/th.health/theme.htm, August 2002
<strong>The</strong>re have been many interventions with the aim <strong>of</strong> reducing women's energy
burden, largely targeted at household energy programmes (e.g. improved cooking
stoves; solar cookers). However, these were not always successful, even though
women have demonstrated a willingness to switch and experiment with the most
suitable fuels for the task at hand (Annecke:99). In part this may be because women
were aware that time saved through increased energy efficiency might be filled with
drudgery <strong>of</strong> a different and even more unacceptable kind. In part because, as with
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Development Planning Unit, UCL London
Dr. Sheilah Meikle and Patrice North