EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The study methodology involved small surveys and case studies due to the unavailability of published data. The first and second hypothesis, tested whether the ability (power) of women to make decision at household and enterprise level affects their impact on energy choice. The targets were female –headed that were previously under male -headed households and their energy use patterns before and after were studied.  The other approaches were to target women from matrilineal societies which entails that they are decision makers. As a control women whose husbands worked away from home were also studied. The area of the study was Eastern Province, where matrilineal societies reside.  It must be stated that due to time and financial constraints, the sample selected was small. 

Of the twenty households, 12 of the households used firewood for cooking and kerosene for lighting.  

Of the 20 households covered,2 households were using solar energy for lighting and they used kerosene stoves for cooking. Six of the households used grid electricity for lighting and powering their appliances. Three of these households also used electricity for cooking, two used kerosene stoves for cooking while one used charcoal for cooking. 

With the high level of intermarriages, the distinction between matrilineal ethnic groups and patriarchal ones is not so evident anymore. Rather the level of education, disposable income and assertiveness had a role to play for women who were using modern energy services. Where the women had a low disposable income switching to modern energy was not a priority because it was considered costly and a luxury. Survival was merely centred on getting the next meal.  

The assets that were deemed to be of high priority were radios, bicycles and hammer mills. When asked what they would use for energy they indicated that they made money in small quantities and would buy battery cells or kerosene when the money was available. Other items of priority were school fees especially for those who had children in higher education. In other instances wood fuel was considered God’s free gift and there was reluctance to pay for energy when energy in the form of firewood is virtually free. The cost of environmental degradation and the time spent of searching for firewood was obviously not calculated.  

Those connected to the solar home systems owned groceries were part time farmers and also held civil service jobs. They did not own the systems but merely paid a connection fee and monthly tariff to the Chipata Energy Service Company. The households that used electricity were also those of people in gainful employment. Those connected to the electricity grid mostly lived in council houses and are involved in other income-generating activities apart from farming. 

The conclusion therefore is that while women who are independent are able to make their own choices, moving up the energy ladder is however not a priority because of the limited disposable income with various competing interests such as food, agricultural inputs, clothing and school fees. If the women are not educated on the financial implications of the environmental degradation and time spent on collecting firewood it may be considered a free good and this can retard development. 

Most of the women in the very remote areas did seem to know much about solar energy. It is important that awareness levels are increased especially that the next phase of the ESCO projects entails installing 150 solar home systems in Chipata. Since Agriculture is the major source of livelihood, women need to mobilise themselves to strengthen their credit rating and also create their own revolving credit fund that can be used for purchasing energy technologies. 

Since the ethnic distinctions and independence in determining the use of income do not necessarily entail that women will move up the energy ladder, the following policy options are recommended: 

In order to test the third stated hypothesis, field surveys had to be undertaken to compare the turnover between enterprises in electrified and non-electrified areas. The change in income-generating activities after provision of modern energy services was observed. The preliminary results indicate that provision of modern energy services does enhance the level of income-generating activities in size, level and turnover for both men and women. During the study the danger of considering women as one homogenous group was noted as the financial status e.g. access to financial support played a major role in women engaging in income-generating activities. The nature of the products i.e. precious minerals and quarrying fetched a lot of money regardless of the form of energy. It would therefore be prudent to conclude that provision of modern energy services do enhance the chances of women engaging in income-generating activities especially for those economically empowered ones. 

Having analysed the problem, draft recommendations were devised and consequently subjected to a filter to arrive at the final recommendations. The final recommendations are as follows: 

With these recommendations, it is envisaged that women have a higher chance of being empowered to engage in income-generating activities and use energy in a sustainable manner.