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

A study <strong>of</strong> the impact <strong>of</strong> energy use on poor urban livelihoods in Arusha, Tanzania
� How will women and girls use the saved time?
<strong>The</strong> knowledge used to inform the answers has been drawn from the: semistructured
interviews (114); key informant interviews (31); case-studies (8); focus
group discussions (6); workshops (8); and various secondary data; which are
described in chapter 4.
5.4.2 Level <strong>of</strong> access to and use <strong>of</strong> modern and traditional energy in urban
households
Electricity and kerosene are the two modern fuels used. Electricity is the aspirational
fuel <strong>of</strong> choice. 76 However cost and unreliable supply make its use carefully managed
by all the study households. 77 Figures 5.10 and 5.11 illustrate the use <strong>of</strong> electricity by
the study households. Figure 5.10 shows:
� in both wards all, or nearly all, the non-poor households, whether male or female
headed, are connected to the electricity supply;
� in both wards, female headed non-poor households generally make more use <strong>of</strong>
electricity for household activities than male-headed households. <strong>The</strong> exceptions
being that all male and female headed households, in Kaloleni, use electricity for
lighting and that in Daraja Mbili the same proportion <strong>of</strong> female and male headed
households use electricity for cooking. This may be because the husband in
male-headed households is more concerned with expense rather than
convenience;
� more use is made <strong>of</strong> electricity in Kaloleni, generally Daraja Mbili households are
(in some cases marginally) less likely to be connected to and use electricity for
various activities;
� poor female headed households do not use electricity for cooking in either Daraja
Mbili or Kaloleni;
� poor female headed households are substantially worse <strong>of</strong>f in terms <strong>of</strong> electricity
use than poor male headed households in Daraja Mbili; the difference is not as
great in Kaloleni;
� the number <strong>of</strong> poor female headed households that are disconnected is higher in
Kaloleni than Daraja Mbili which seems to suggest that they are suffering a
greater erosion in their livelihoods;
� female headed poor households make no use <strong>of</strong> electricity for cooking;
� female headed poor households in Kaloleni is the category which uses electricity
least for lighting, ironing, TV and radio;
� largest number <strong>of</strong> disconnections are for female headed poor households;
� In both Daraja Mbili and Kaloleni, the use <strong>of</strong> TV and radio is higher among nonpoor
female headed households than poor and non-poor male headed
households. This situation is almost reversed in male headed poor, and female
headed non-poor households where there is a higher use <strong>of</strong> radios and TV
(Kaloleni only) in male headed households. This could be because men, who are
the major users <strong>of</strong> radios and TVs in male-headed households, seek their
entertainment outside the home. In the poorer households men do not have the
same financial resources to go out in the evening
76 See Appendix E2 for a breakdown <strong>of</strong> comparative fuel costs in Arusha 2002-2004
77 <strong>The</strong>re had been one fire using lpg and as a consequence households were afraid to us it.
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Development Planning Unit, UCL London
Dr. Sheilah Meikle and Patrice North