Needs-based impact assessment of non-grid rural electrification : a case of Eastern Cape

Bibliography: leaves 71-74.This thesis explores issues of electrification in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape. First the set of issues explored are the rural areas electrification and general development background issues, taking the electrification from the early 1990s as the point of departure. Non-grid electrified, grid-electrified and non-electrified households in six Eastern Cape province areas were interviewed to gather information on their energy consumption. The research was undertaken to explore households' energy uses and to measure the impacts of having both grid and non-grid electricity. Socio-economic backgrounds of researched households are analysed to explore their contribution and influence to the types of energy sources used by households. By exploring socioeconomic backgrounds, a picture is given of conditions that drive rural households to use different types of energy. By comparing the electrified and non-electrified households. the thesis explores and explains how the transition and switching from one fuel to the other is made within these households. Lastly, there is also an analysis of the way different electricity supply options used in the rural areas affect the way people use energy. This includes discussion as to whether different electricity supply options are accepted better than others and the reasons for this. The conclusions drawn from the research done for this thesis shows that energy is a key component of rural development, yet energy demand (in terms of electricity use) in rural areas is low due to their underdeveloped nature. Even if modem energy is delivered to rural poor, households are often faced with very restricted income which severely limits energy use especially for thermal applications. These problems have to be addressed as a whole. In order to satisfy needs of people in rural areas. the provision of electricity, either grid or off-grid must hand in hand with integrated local development through which poverty as a whole may be addressed

The use of liquefied petroleum gas by South African low-income urban households: A case study

At the end of 2005 and in 2006, the Western Cape suffered extended blackouts. The cuts came as a shock and customers were loud in their criticism of Eskom and the City of Cape Town’s failure to provide a reliable electricity supply. The utility Eskom’s responses included the introduction of an aggressive Demand Side Management (DSM) programme with the goal of saving electricity and reducing the need to shed customers. In Khayelitsha, Cape Town, the DSM programme entailed an exchange and subsidy programme: households were encouraged to swop their two-plate electric stoves for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) stoves. This intervention is the subject of this paper. The results of the study were analysed in terms of the socio-economic characteristics of the sample interviewed, multiple fuel use and transition trends in households in urban areas, changes in behaviour in electricity and LPG use, changing perceptions of LPG and the impact of the intervention. Previous studies in household energy use showed that people perceived LPG to be dangerous saying that it posed a greater danger to the household than paraffin since it might explode. Surprisingly, during the electricity power cuts in 2006, people in low-income communities, readily accepted LPG stoves in great numbers and a year later, up to 89% of the households surveyed, reported still using LPG for cooking

Energy use in informal food enterprises: A gender perspective

The informal sector provides economic opportunities to the poor, and in sub-Saharan African countries it is dominated by women. Energy is a key input into the food sector enterprises. A study was carried out to review academic and non-academic literature on the use and gender impacts of modern energy in informal food enterprises. The review established that few studies have addressed energy for the informal food sector from a gender perspective. Although these few are qualitative in nature, they tend to lack in-depth analysis of gender and of the cause-and-effect linkages between modern energy use in the informal sector and the gendered goals of women and men. Moreover, a lack of understanding of gender from a relational perspective focusing on both women and men impeded conclusions on empowerment in terms of whether increased access to modern energy in the informal food sector contributes to closing the gender gap. This paper makes three key recommendations. First, scholars need to address the gaps and take a relational approach, so that studies are not just about women but also about the power relations between various groups of women and men. Secondly, policy needs to recognise that biomass is sometimes desired not just as an energy source but also for the flavour it imparts to food. Lastly, policy should be informed by the needs of informal enterprise owners and their customers, not by the general discourse in the energy sector that assumes that increased uptake of modern energy services makes positive contributions to enterprises

Testing the contextual Interaction theory in a UHC pilot district in South Africa

Background World-wide, there is growing universal health coverage (UHC) enthusiasm. The South African government began piloting policies aimed at achieving UHC in 2012. These UHC policies have been and are being rolled out in the ten selected pilot districts. Our study explored policy implementation experiences of 71 actors involved in UHC policy implementation, in one South African pilot district using the Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) lens. Method Our study applied a two-actor deductive theory of implementation, Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) to analyse 71 key informant interviews from one National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot district in South Africa. The theory uses motivation, information, power, resources and the interaction of these to explain implementation experiences and outcomes. The research question centred on the utility of CIT tenets in explaining the observed implementation experiences of actors and outcomes particularly policy- practice gaps. Results All CIT central tenets (information, motivation, power, resources and interactions) were alluded to by actors in their policy implementation experiences, a lack or presence of these tenets were explained as either a facilitator or barrier to policy implementation. This theory was found as very useful in explaining policy implementation experiences of both policy makers and facilitators. Conclusion A central tenet that was present in this context but not fully captured by CIT was leadership. Leadership interactions were revealed as critical for policy implementation, hence we propose the inclusion of leadership interactions to the current CIT central tenets, to become motivation, information, power, resources, leadership and interactions of all these

Implementing the South African free basic alternative energy policy: a dynamic actor interaction

The majority of households without grid electricity in South Africa are located in low-income rural and urban areas. Being located in the remote rural areas makes it expensive to extend the grid and often locks such households into energy poverty where they are forced to use traditional fuels which expose them to unhealthy and difficult living conditions. The Free Basic Alternative Energy (FBAE) policy is aimed at providing alternative energy service to households without grid electricity with the hope of alleviating their energy poverty burden. \ud This study examines how the FBAE policy is implemented in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape by the five local municipalities under the jurisdiction of the OR Tambo District. Through the use of the Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) this study analyses how the three-actor groups (implementing actors, target actors and linking actors) and their characteristics (motivations, cognitions, capacity and power) influence the FBAE policy implementation process. Through this analysis, the complexity of policy implementation processes is revealed by highlighting the influence of the dynamic actor-interaction.\ud By focusing on several actors and the influencing factors, this study moves away from the often accepted assumption that policy implementation processes mainly fail due to lack of resources. The analysis shows that actor motivations in terms of goals, their cognitions in terms of information as well as their capacity and power all play an important role in the success and failure of a policy implementation process

Gender audits: An approach to engendering energy policy in Nepal, Kenya and Senegal

Gender audits are an approach for putting gender on the policy agenda and are an alternative to gender budgets being less dependant on experts in government finance. This paper explores the effectiveness of gender audits as an approach to mainstreaming in the energy sector which has lagged other sectors in mainstreaming gender. The assessment takes the experiences of an international network on gender and sustainable energy that aims to get gender onto the energy policy agenda. Since there is no standard audit methodology, the network developed its own. The paper uses an analysis of qualitative data, reviews of audit reports and key informant interviews to answer two questions. As a result of gender audits, have gender issues or attending to women's particular interests been incorporated in energy policy? Did participation in an audit build the capacity of national actors to contribute to gender mainstreaming in the energy sector? Detailed data comes from network countries conducting audits: Kenya, Senegal and Nepal, with supporting evidence from 8 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The gender audit methodology used is partially effective in integrating gender issues into government energy policy. Pragmatic, conceptual and political barriers to gender mainstreaming continue to operate. Adopting gender-aware policies occurs rapidly in organisations that participated in the audits. Male employees more readily accept gender policies when they see that policies also benefits men. In the audit countries, a group of national gender and energy experts has been established able to contribute to mainstreaming gender in the energy sector